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THE 



PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



By JOHN WARE, M.D. 



PREPARED 
ON THE PLAN, AND RETAINING PORTIONS, OE THE WORK OE 

WILLIAM SMELLIE, 

MEMBER OP THE ANTIQUARIAN AND ROYAL SOCIETIES OP EDINBURGH. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY BROWN AND TAGGARD. 

27 AND 29 COENHILL. 
1860. 

A 



or 



<&> 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

JOHN WARE, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE! 
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. 0- HOUGHTON. 



PREFACE. 



The origin and purpose of the work upon which the 
present one is founded are explained in the following 
extracts from the Preface of its author. 

"About fifteen years ago, in a conversation with the late worthy, 
respectable, and ingenious Lord Karnes, upon the too general neglect 
of natural knowledge, his Lordship suggested the idea of composing 
a book on the Philosophy of Natural History. In a work 
of this kind, he proposed that the productions of Nature, which to 
us are almost infinite, should, instead of being treated of individ- 
ually, be arranged under general heads ;, that, in each of these 
divisions, the known facts, as well as reasonings, should be collected 
and methodized in the form of regular discourses ; that as few 
technical terms as possible should be employed; and that all useful 
and amusing views arising from the different subjects should be 
exhibited in such a manner as to convey both pleasure and infor- 
mation. 

" This task his Lordship was pleased to think me not altogether 
unqualified to attempt. The idea struck me. I thought that a work 
of this kind, if executed even with moderate abilities, might excite 
a taste for examining the various objects which everywhere solicit 
our attention. A habit of observation refines our feelings. It is a 
source of interesting amusement, prevents idle or vicious propensi- 
ties, and exalts the mind to a love of virtue and of rational enter- 
tainment. I likewise reflected, that men of learning often betray 
an ignorance on the most common subjects of Natural History, 
which it is painful to remark." 



iv PREFACE. 

" Upon the whole, the general design of this publication is to 
convey to the minds of youth, and of such as may have paid little 
attention to the study of Nature, a species of knowledge which it 
is not difficult to acquire. The knowledge will be a perpetual and 
inexhaustible source of many pleasures ; it will afford innocent and 
virtuous amusement, and will occupy agreeably the leisure or vacant 
hours of life." 

The book of Mr. Smellie, prepared in accordance 
with these views, was first published about seventy years 
since, and continued in use during the early part of the 
present century. In the year 1824, at the suggestion 
of my friend Mr. George B. Emerson, it underwent a 
variety of alterations, intended to adapt it for use in the 
school of which he was then the teacher. An Introduc- 
tion was substituted for the first two chapters, " contain- 
ing some very general views of animal and vegetable 
life, and a brief sketch of the structure and classification 
of the whole animal kingdom." Of the remainder of the 
work some chapters were omitted, some portions were 
re-written, and many passages were added ; but it re- 
mained essentially the same. 

Since its preparation, especially during the last fif- 
teen years, the work has been extensively used in the 
schools of the United States, and has been re-published 
in Great Britain. At the request of the publishers &, 
new revision was undertaken, in order to adapt it more 
perfectly to the present wants of education. 

In the present edition the subjects of the Introduc- 
tion have been much more fully treated. In the body 
of the work, the original plan has been still adhered to, 
but extensive alterations have been made, and most of 
the chapters have been prepared anew. These altera- 



PREFACE. V 

tions consist chiefly in a more full consideration of those 
parts of the animal economy which relate to the exter- 
nal life of animals, and which are consequently closely 
connected with the study of their characters, manners, 
habits, and mental characteristics. Complete state- 
ments of physiological details were not consistent with 
the plan or the limits of the work, and a full scientific 
view of Physiology was therefore not attempted. The 
object of the book is not to teach Natural History, 
technically speaking, — a task the author would not 
have ventured to undertake — but to present such views 
of it as would be intelligible to the young student and 
to the general reader, and prepare them for, and lead 
them to engage in, a more extended study of the sub- 
ject as it is presented in treatises more strictly scien- 
tific and in the works of Nature. 

J. W. 

Boston, August, 1860. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Chap. Page. 

I. General Characteristics of Living Bodies • 1-12 

II. Characteristics of Animals as distinguished 

from Plants 12-20 

III. General Structure qf Animals • •• 20-31 

IY. Structure of Animals as compared with 

that of Man 32-42 

V. General Subdivisions of the Animal King- 
dom 43-46 

VI. First Branch of the Animal Kingdom. — Ver- 

TEBRATA, OR VERTEBRAL ANIMALS 46-113 

Section I. Class I. Mammalia 47-87 

Section II. Class II. Birds 87-102 

Section III. Class III. Reptiles 102-107 

Section IV. Class IY. Fishes 108-113 

VII. Second Branch of the Animal Kingdom. — Ar- 

TICULATA, OR ARTICULATED ANIMALS 113-127 

VIII. Third Branch of the Animal Kingdom. — Mol- 

lusca, or Molluscous Animals 127-131 

IX. Fourth Branch of the Animal Kingdom. — Ra- 

diata, or Radiated Animals 131-136 



vm CONTENTS. 



PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

Chap. Page. 

W.* I. Or the Food, Digestion, and Blood of 

Animals 137-159 

W. II. Of Circulation and Respiration 160-176 

W. III. Of the Connection of Animals with 

Heat, Light, and Electricity 177-185 

W. IV. Of the Motions of Animals 185-199 

W. V. Of the Voice of Animals, and their 

Modes of Communication 199-205 

W. VI. Of Sensation in General. — Feeling and 

Touch. — Taste. — Smell 206-213 

W. VH. Of Hearing ■ • 214-225 

W. VIH. Of Sight. — Education of the Senses, 

AND THEIR COMBINATION AND RECIPRO- 
CAL Relations 225-254 

W. IX. Of Reproduction and Transformation 255-264 
W. X. Of the Distribution of Animals. — 
Covering, Migration, and Hyberna- 
tion 265-282 

S. XL Of the Habitations of Animals 283-315 

W. XII. Of the Relation of Animals to Mak. 
— their Education and Domestica- 
tion • 315-335 

S. XIII. Of the Artifices of Animals • 335-347 

W. XIV. Of the Association of Animals 348-357 

W. XV. Of the Hostilities of Animals and the 

Destruction of Animal Life 357-374 

W. XVI. Of the Duration of Life ?-.--". 374-386 

W. XVII. Of Instinct and Intellligence, and of 

the Mental Constitution of Animals 386-407 
W. XVIII. Conclusion 407-418 

Questions • 419-448 

* The Chapters which are taken chiefly from the original work are marked 
S. ; those prepared wholly or principally for the present edition are marked W. 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



INTRODUCTION. 
CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OP LIVING BODIES. 

Natural History in its largest sense embraces a very wide 
field of investigation. It gives the history not only of animate 
but of all inanimate matter, and thus extends to the mineral as 
well as the vegetable and animal kingdoms. It includes an 
account of the form, size, color, and other sensible qualities 
of minerals; of their position with respect to each other; their 
arrangement and relations as forming parts of the globe • and 
their relation also to the living things which now inhabit or have 
inhabited it. -It teaches the circumstances in which vegetable 
and animal differ from mineral substances. It describes their 
structure and powers; the conditions of their existence; the laws 
according to which their structure and organization are made to 
vary, and the relation to external circumstances which renders 
variation of structure necessary. It arranges the individuals 
ot these kingdoms into groups, according to certain principles of 
classification. It gives each individual a place in this arrange, 
ment. It enters into the history of each one; investigates its 
structure, its mode of life, its relation to external nature ; in 
short lt determines and describes in detail every particular 
which can illustrate the character of its existence. 

It is manifest that no human industry can master this whole 
subject. It has accordingly been subdivided into many depart- 



2 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

ments, and each department affords ample material for the inves- 
tigation of a lifetime. But the minute details which occupy the 
attention of the professed naturalist, are not calculated to engage 
the interest of the general student, or to constitute a part of the 
preliminary education of the young. For these they have not the 
taste, nor the time. Their purpose is better answered by the study 
of what has been denominated the Philosophy of Natural 
History, a more general method of presenting the same sub- 
jects. Its purpose, beside a similar consideration of the objects 
of inanimate nature, is to illustrate principles according to which 
plants and animals are constructed ; the laws by which their ex- 
istence is governed ; the conditions under which they come into 
existence, continue their existence, and terminate their existence ; 
and thus to exhibit the plan of creation and the designs of the 
great Author of Nature, as they are displayed in this portion of 
his works. The Philosophy of Natural History is indeed little 
less than a system of Natural Theology drawn from the history 
of nature, and in no way can the power and wisdom of the 
Creator be more clearly illustrated. 

The purpose of the present work is to illustrate this subject 
chiefly in connection with the animal kingdom, and chiefly also 
with those portions of this kingdom in which animal life is ex- 
hibited in its highest and most perfect state. To attempt more 
than this, would open a wider theme than could be clearly or 
profitably treated. It is not its object to teach the details of nat- 
ural history except so far as they are necessary to the illustration 
of principles ; and the phenomena exhibited by the mineral and 
vegetable kingdoms will only be so far adverted to as they 
have some relation to the conditions under which animals exist, 
the functions by which their existence is maintained, the rela- 
tions they bear to each other, and the character they severally 
manifest. 

If a common observer were asked in what respect an animal 
differs from a stone, he would answer without hesitation that 
it differs in being alive. If the same question were put with 
regard to a plant, the answer would probably be the same. 
Supposing it to be then inquired how the plant is distinguished 
from the animal ; the solution might seem more difficult. Very 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 3 

likely, however, it would be thought sufficient to say that the 
animal could feel and move, and that the plant could not. 

In point of fact these answers are sufficiently accurate, as far 
as they go, and yet how few of those who would make them, 
actually comprehend in their full extent the meaning of the 
very terms in which they are expressed. Our familiarity with 
animal and vegetable life, and our constant habit of making the 
distinction between the bodies possessed of them, actually pre- 
vent our perception of the wonderful and mysterious character 
with which they are invested. Till the conditions under which 
a living thing exists are deliberately considered, it is impossible 
fully to appreciate how strange and interesting is the simple pos- 
session of life. It impresses us most forcibly when viewed in 
its connection with the ordinary laws of matter, and in those 
species in which its attributes are most variously displayed. 
Strictly speaking, life is as completely possessed by the lowest 
plant as by the highest animal ; but we can best appreciate its 
wonderful character when we consider it in connection with 
ourselves. 

When a man dies, his body is speedily decomposed. If the 
results of its- decomposition .are examined, it is found to have 
been made up chiefly of water, nitrogen, a little phosphorus, a 
little sulphur, some charcoal and lime, with a few other earthy 
and some saline ingredients. But there is nothing peculiar in 
the materials of which it is composed. They are elements which 
are constantly present in the universe about us, and which enter 
into the composition of a thousand other bodies. They have in 
themselves, separately considered, none of those properties which 
are found in the animal into whose composition they enter. In- 
deed, their original physical and chemical tendencies are actually 
at variance with the relation they maintain to each other as com- 
ponent parts of a living system ; so much so, that if the myste- 
rious bond of connection which holds them together be dissolved 
by death, they separate sooner or later from each other, in con- 
formity with their original and inherent tendencies. 

This mysterious bond is the Principle of Life. By its influ- 
ence we are enabled to maintain our existence in the midst of 
agents which are constantly seeking our destruction. Our bodies 



^™ 



4 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

are composed of elements which exist everywhere in the matter 
around us, but gathered into new combinations and moulded into 
peculiar forms. The tendency of the common laws of matter is 
to dissolve these combinations and destroy these forms. Fire, 
air, and water, the cold of winter and the heat of summer, are 
alike our enemies. We have a chemical composition of our own, 
— a temperature of our own, — a power of spontaneous motion 
of our own. We maintain them in spite of the chemical affin- 
ities, the temperature, and the mechanical influences of the bodies 
that surround us. Deprive us of life, and our resistance to all 
these tendencies is at an end. Our power of motion is lost, 
and we yield at once to the force of gravity which brings us 
to the earth ; — our temperature falls or rises to that of the 
medium by which we are surrounded ; — and the chemical laws 
of matter, sooner or later, resolve our bodies into their original 
elements. 

We are so familiar with the spectacle of life in nature around 
us, as well as with the consciousness of our own existence, that 
we are apt to lose sight of what is most wonderful in animals and 
in ourselves. We wonder at the strange and curious chemistry 
of digestion ; at the nice mechanism of the heart ; at the beauti- 
ful adjustment of the eye and ear, and their adaptation to light 
and sound. The greater wonder is that we can exist at all in 
the midst of a material world constituted as it is, and governed 
as it is by fixed laws. 

Consider these laws : of Gravitation, universal, unerring, in- 
evitable. Governing an atom as it governs a planet. Ruling all 
bodies, at rest or in motion, by one immutable principle. Of 
Heat, no less absolute and irresistible, — always tending to dis- 
tribute itself in certain regulated proportions to all substances, 
and in the accomplishment of its laws producing the most vio- 
lent effects, cleaving rocks and tearing open hills. Of Chemical 
Affinity, extending its sway over the same substances as the pre- 
ceding, but for purposes entirely distinct. By its agency solid 
bodies dissolving and disappearing in apparently inert and impo- 
tent liquids ; airs changing into liquids and liquids into solids ; 
fire springing up in the midst of water, and water increasing 
the intensity of fire. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 5 

The empire of these laws over matter in its ordinary state is 
constant. There are no exceptions to it. But existing in the 
midst of them, the animal sets them all at defiance. He moves 
in opposition to and independently of the law of gravitation. 
He resists the influence of that external heat which subdues 
everything else. He maintains a chemical composition incon- 
sistent not only with the chemical attractions of the substances by 
which he is everywhere surrounded, but inconsistent even with 
those of the elements of which he is himself composed. This is 
the position which we maintain in the midst of creation, and 
there is no wonder in the creation greater than this. 

This is the universal condition of animal life. It is most 
strikingly exhibited and most clearly illustrated in man and the 
higher animals, but essentially the principle is of the same 
character in all, and is displayed by similar phenomena. Still, 
though thus alike in this fundamental principle, animals differ 
indefinitely in secondary particulars. They exist in different 
states, under different circumstances. They live on a variety 
of food. They inhabit the air, the water, the earth. Some are 
exposed to continued cold ; some to continued heat ; whilst others 
are undergoing a series of vicissitudes from heat to cold and from 
cold to heat. This renders necessary an immense variety in 
structure. The animal that flies cannot be built like the animal 
that runs ; nor the animal that runs like the animal that swims. 
The animal that breathes in air and the one that breathes in 
water must each have an arrangement suited to the medium in 
which it lives. The necessities of all as to food, climate, habita- 
tions, require modifications in bodily. structure to fit them for the 
place they are designed to fill. This is the origin and final 
cause of the varieties in animal form. 

The study of this subject lays open to us a prospect of the 
wonderful economy with which Nature manages her resources. 
Notwithstanding the wonderful variety of animal forms, the 
fundamental operations by which life is maintained are essen- 
tially the same in all. It is in secondary particulars that the 
variation chiefly takes place. " Nature," as was happily ob- 
served by a celebrated physiologist, " is prodigal of ends, but 
economical of means." She uses but few materials and few 



6 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

tools ; but the works she accomplishes are almost infinitely di- 
versified in form, in character, and in purpose. 

The first and fundamental distinction among the objects of the 
material world is, then, between those possessed of life and those 
not possessed of life ; the former including plants and animals, 
the latter all other bodies. But in order fully to comprehend 
the nature of this distinction, it is necessary to study more in de- 
tail the conditions under which these two classes of bodies are 
found to exist. 

The first distinction is in the character of their structure and 
the mode of their origin. Living bodies are made up of a va- 
riety of parts peculiar in their texture, each of which exercises 
an office subordinate to the purposes of the whole individual. 
Other bodies are on the contrary either of a uniform structure 
throughout, or, if not so, the several parts of which they are com- 
posed have no peculiar relation to each other more than to other 
matter, and contribute nothing to the relations of the whole mass 
into whose composition they enter except to its size and weight. 
Their existence is a continued one. Their structure and forms 
remain very much as they were in their original formation. It 
is true that convulsions of nature have brought about some revo- 
lutions in them, and accidental causes of less importance fre- 
quently produce some minor changes. But through all, the 
powers and properties remain the same. Matter always gravi- 
tates, and its elements, however divided and disturbed, always 
maintain the same relations, combine in the same forms, in the 
same proportions, and according to the same affinities. 

But while the universe of common matter is thus permanent, 
that of living matter is in a state of constant revolution. Bodies 
are constantly going out of existence and new ones as constantly 
coming into existence. Change is the characteristic law of the 
latter, as permanency is of the former. Both in the animal and 
vegetable world each individual has but a limited term of exist- 
ence. It is produced, grows, flourishes for a while, and then 
dies and decays. Hence the necessity of that provision by 
which they may be regarded as successively created, namely, 
that each individual is the offspring of another individual like 
itself. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 7 

This is a very complete distinction. No substance not possess- 
ed of life is ever brought into existence in this way. It is true 
that new bodies in the mineral world are formed by the acci- 
dental aggregation of particles, or by the spontaneous combina- 
tions which are J:he result of chemical laws ; but this is clearly 
something very different from the mode of production which 
takes place in living bodies. One stone does not produce another 
like itself; a crystal does not produce a crystal, nor one grain of 
sand another. There is nothing like the relation of parent and 
offspring. 

Connected with this circumstance, namely, the relation of parent 
and offspring, is another, not less important, — the relation of sex. 
This, more or less perfectly exhibited, is found in all the subjects 
of both the vegetable and animal kingdoms. To the continuance 
of every species this distinction is necessary, either existing in 
separate individuals, as in most animals, or combined in the 
same, as in most plants. It is true that in some species, as in 
bees and ants, there is a race of neuters, which possesses the 
properties of neither sex ; but it is probable that these are rather 
to be regarded as individuals imperfectly developed, than as orig- 
inally deficient in the appropriate characteristics. 

In the second place, living bodies differ as to the mode of their 
existence, insomuch as they are dependent upon other things 
beside themselves for the continuance of that existence. The 
matter of which their active parts are composed undergoes, with 
more or less frequency, an entire change. It is, in fact, only 
common matter endowed for a certain period with the powers 
of life, in consequence of being united to living systems. By 
the various internal operations constantly going on, part of this 
matter is expended, is sent out of the system. This loss must 
be repaired by the addition of new T matter. Hence the necessity 
of nourishment to the support of life ; hence the necessity of a 
regular supply, to everything living, of a certain quantity of food 
adapted in kind to the nature of the individual. This food is 
operated upon by the organs of the animal or vegetable, is assim- 
ilated to it, and its properties are modified until it becomes fit to 
enter into its composition. This is Nutrition, an essential process 
of living bodies, by which they are enabled to increase in size 



8 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

and strength, to modify the structure of their different parts, and 
to maintain them in a fit state for performing the offices for which 
they are designed. Minerals, on the contrary, have no such de- 
pendence ; the matter of which they consist is always the same ; 
they contain within themselves everything which is essential to 
their existence, and have, of course, no necessity for nutrition or 
growth. It is true that these substances sometimes increase in 
size, as happens with regard to stalactites, the deposition of crys- 
tals, and the formation of alluvia. But there is this marked dif- 
ference between all such instances of growth and that of animals 
or vegetables : that, in the former case, it amounts to the mere 
juxtaposition of similar particles, unchanged in their nature ; 
whilst in the latter, the particles are changed in their nature, and 
subjected to the operation of entirely new laws. In the former 
case, the growth depends upon a principle operating from with- 
out ; in the latter, upon a principle operating from within. 

In the third place, although in this way dependent on other 
substances for the necessary materials by which their existence 
is supported, living bodies, in another point of view, exhibit a 
species of independence of other matter. As has been already 
stated, they are removed, to a certain degree, out of the influence 
of physical and chemical laws ; they are enabled to resist their 
ordinary operation by an inherent principle, and without this 
would speedily cease to exist. They depend upon the things 
around them for the materials for their support ; but the power 
of altering the nature of these materials, and appropriating them 
to their own use, is peculiar to themselves. The functions of 
living systems are not only performed without the assistance 
of the physical powers of matter, but often in direct opposition 
to them ; and the substances which are introduced into them lose 
to a certain extent their chemical relations, and are eombined 
according to new laws, and for new purposes. 

This power of insulation, possessed by living systems, is in no 
instance more strikingly evinced, than in the possession by many 
animals of a certain degree of vital heat, which they preserve 
under all circumstances, short of those which impair or destroy 
the texture of their parts. This degree of heat, — which in 
man is about 98° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, — continues al- 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 9 

ways nearly the same. In some countries, in which the degree 
of cold is for many months in the year very much below the 
freezing point of mercury, men not only exist, but enjoy all the 
comforts of life. In some high latitudes, Europeans have been 
exposed to temperatures as low as — 50° or even — 60° of Fah- 
renheit's thermometer, that is, about 150° below the natural 
standard of animal heat, and have escaped every ill consequence. 
Many years since, the whole of two ships' crews wintered in 
75° of north latitude in perfect safety, where the temperature 
of the air was, for many weeks together, almost constantly be- 
low — 30°, and where they became so accustomed to severe 
cold, that the atmosphere, when at zero, felt mild and comfort- 
able. In one of the more recent arctic expeditions a still lower 
temperature was endured, not only with impunity, but with com- 
parative comfort. On the other hand, in many countries men 
exist without difficulty under a high degree of heat. In Sicily, 
during certain winds, the thermometer has been observed at 
112°, in South America by Humboldt at 115°, in Africa at 
125°. But, for a limited period, much higher degrees of arti- 
ficial heat have been borne without injury. Individuals have 
exposed themselves voluntarily to the air of ovens at tempera- 
tures from 260° to 315° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, without 
any great inconvenience, while water was boiling and meat bak- 
ing in the same atmosphere. Life has even been maintained by 
some of the lower classes under circumstances still more extraor- 
dinary. In some hot springs in the island of Ceylon fishes have 
been found swimming about in water from 87° to 115° ; in Bar- 
bary at 172° ; in Manilla at 187°, and, according to Humboldt, 
they have been thrown up alive from a volcano with water at 
210°. These facts show a power of resisting the operation of 
external causes, which is possessed by no substances except such 
as are endowed with life, and is, probably, possessed in some de- 
gree by all that are. For, although vegetables and the lower 
kinds of animals are not capable of resisting to the same extent 
the influence of heat and cold, yet they all show, in some meas- 
ure, the existence of the same power. And in the most imper- 
fect species, where there is no other evidence, this power is 
evinced by the fact that the individual freezes with greater 
1* 



10 CHAEACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

difficulty before than after death, other circumstances being 
equal.* 

The same principle is exhibited in the resistance which living 
bodies offer to the causes of chemical decomposition by which 
they are surrounded. This resistance ceases as soon as life 
ceases, and is consequently due to its influence. We are 
exposed while alive to the same heat and moisture which 
work so speedy a change upon us after death ; the composi- 
tion and texture of our bodies are the same. We resist their 
influence by virtue of the possession of the principle of 
Life. 

This suggests to us, in the fourth place, another distinction of 
living substances, namely : that they all terminate their existence 
in death. By this event, the materials which entered into their 
composition are deprived of the bond that held them together 
and gave to them their peculiar form. They therefore separate, 
and retain only those properties that they possessed before be- 
coming parts of a living system. Dust returns to dust, earth 
to earth. It is true that some of the parts of living bodies, both 
animal and vegetable, do not very readily undergo the process 
of decay. The bones, teeth, shells, and horns of animals ; the 
trunks, branches, and roots of trees, retain, for an almost in- 
definite length of time, under certain circumstances, their shape 

* In quadrupeds and birds the animal heat is generally greater than, whilst in 
animals of the inferior classes it is seldom very different from, that of the me- 
dium in which they live. The former are called warm-blooded, and the latter 
cold-blooded. In the former, the temperature is capable of but slight variation 
from external causes ; in the latter, its range is pretty extensive, and it varies 
a great number of degrees. The temperature of a man plunged into cold salt- 
water at 44°, has been known to sink to 83°, and when exposed to a heated 
atmosphere, to rise to 100°; in other warm-blooded animals similar varieties 
have been observed. But the temperature of the viper, a cold-blooded animal, 
when exposed to a heat of 108°, rises to 92°, and when exposed to a cold of 10°, 
sinks to about the freezing point of water, showing at once an extensive range 
of temperature within which the functions can go on, and at the same time a 
decided power of resistance against any further alteration. 

Eggs possess an analogous power. A new-laid egg, and one which has been 
frozen and thawed, being exposed in a freezing mixture together, the former 
will be some minutes longer in freezing than the latter. This has been ascer- 
tained by experiment. The same is true of the lower orders of animals and 
vegetables. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 11 

and substance. This, however, is owing, not to their continuing 
to possess life itself, but partly to the particular character of the 
texture of which they are composed, and partly to their pro- 
tection, by accident or intention, from the influence of air, warmth, 
and moisture. Nothing like this takes place in other substances : 
they can be destroyed only by the action of some mechanical 
agent, which separates their parts, or by that of some chemical 
one, which alters their combinations. 

There is still a fifth circumstance in which organized differ 
essentially from unorganized bodies. The properties which the 
latter possess, and the laws by which they are governed, are 
definite in their character. Uniform causes produce uniform re- 
sults ; and these results are capable of being calculated and 
measured. It is widely different in living bodies, so far at least 
as we are able to analyze the conditions under which they exist. 
This peculiarity is most distinctly exhibited among the higher 
classes of animals, but is to be everywhere recognized. Individ- 
uals of the same species differ indefinitely as to the mode and 
degree in which they are influenced by external causes. We 
can predict of any inorganic body, that it will be always affected 
in the same way by the same, agents. We cannot predict this of 
any organic body ; on the contrary it is hardly ever influenced in 
precisely the same way at different periods by the same cause. 

A remarkable result of this peculiarity is the formation of 
habits. All living things are believed to be capable of this. No 
others are capable of it in the slightest degree. It is one of 
the most striking differences between the two great divisions 
of natural objects. It is exhibited in a variety of ways. The 
life of many, both plants and animals, is a history of the forma- 
tion of habits, some of which are confined to, and terminate with, 
the individual, others are transmitted to the offspring. Thus the 
physical character and even structure of plants are altered by 
climate, by modes of cultivation, by kinds of food ; and not only 
is the same true of animals, but it goes even further, and we see 
changes formed and transmitted, so to speak, in their instincts, 
their intellect, and even in their passions and propensities. 
Hence it is in the subjects of organic life alone that we discover 
the existence of a proper individuality. 



12 CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS 

There are other phenomena which further illustrate the dis- 
tinction between the organic and inorganic modes of existence. 
Animals and vegetables are capable of passing into a condition 
in which there is a suspension, for a time, of many and some- 
times of all their functions, which after a time they resume. Of 
this we have examples in the daily sleep of animals, and the 
torpid state into which many animals and almost all plants fall 
during certain portions of the year. There is, in these cases, an 
intermission in the exhibition of those properties by which the 
individual is particularly characterized. Nothing truly analogous 
to this takes place among mineral substances. 



CHAPTER II. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS AS DISTINGUISHED FROM 
PLANTS. 

Practically there is not often any difficulty in distinguishing 
an animal from a vegetable. But when it is attempted to point 
out the philosophical or essential principle in which their differ- 
ence consists, the task is not so easy. In fact, there does not 
appear to be any such principle lying at the foundation of the 
distinction between animals and plants, that there is between 
organized and unorganized bodies, namely the principle of life. 
There are certain close points of resemblance between the com- 
position, the structure, the functions, and the conditions of exist- 
ence of animals and vegetables, which do not exist between 
either of them and minerals. So much is this the case, that some 
writers, among whom was the celebrated Buffon, have believed 
that there is no exact boundary, but that so close a resemblance 
of characteristics exists between those living at the two extremes, 
that individuals possessing the peculiarities of animal life in the 
lowest degree, are not essentially different from the plants which 
possess them in the highest. 



AS DISTINGUISHED FEOM PLANTS. 13 

It is probable, however, that the difference between these two 
classes of bodies is essential and fundamental ; and it is worth 
while to enter somewhat into the examination of it, not simply 
on account of its intrinsic importance, but because such an ex- 
amination will serve to illustrate not only the differences between 
animals and vegetables, but the nature of their life, the tenure 
and conditions of their existence, and the general character of 
the structure and functions by which their existence is originated 
and maintained. 

It has been remarked that a vegetable may be compared to an 
animal asleep, since it exercises, throughout its whole existence, 
just those functions, and no others, which an animal continues to 
exercise during sleep. " Sleep," says Buffon, " which appeals 
to be a state purely passive, a species of death, is, on the con- 
trary, the original condition of animated beings, and the very 
foundation of life itself. It is not a privation of certain qualities 
and exertions, but a real and more general mode of existence 
than any other." This remark is more ingenious than just. It 
is founded on an imperfect view of the nature of sleep. The 
essential quality of this state is that it implies the suspension of 
certain functions during its continuance, which may be exercised 
at other times. A living body cannot justly be regarded in a state 
of sleep, which is in the actual performance of all the functions 
of which it is capable. Strictly considered, the remark means 
only this : that, during sleep, animals continue to perform only 
those functions which are absolutely necessary to the existence 
of a living thing ; that these functions are those which vegetables 
always perform ; and that there is consequently an analogy be- 
tween an animal, when its peculiar functions are suspended, and 
a vegetable in its ordinary state of existence. This analogy, 
though fanciful in the terms in which it is expressed, is founded 
upon the real differences between the two forms of life ; and 
vegetable life, though not a more real, may justly be regarded as 
" a more general mode of existence " than animal. 

The animal life seems to be, in fact, superinduced upon the 
vegetable. The fundamental operations of living systems — those 
by which they are brought into, and continued in existence — are 
the same in both. They have been called, by way of distinction, 



14 CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS 

the vegetable or organic functions. Animals perform, in ad- 
dition to these, certain others peculiar to themselves ; chiefly 
reducible to the two, sensation and motion; and these are de- 
nominated the animal functions. It is in the structure by which, 
and the mode in which, these several functions are performed, 
that the real distinction between the two kingdoms is to be 
sought ; and although there may be certain individuals in each, 
with regard to which it is difficult to detect the details of the 
distinction, there is reason to infer, from the well-established 
uniformity of the laws upon which the creation proceeds, that 
they exist.* 

We find a marked difference between animals and vegetables, 
as to the manner in which the functions common to both are per- 
formed, as well as in the possession by the former of certain 
others, which are not possessed by the latter. To both, as 
already remarked, a male and female parent is necessary. In 
the vegetable, the new individual is produced by means of a 
seed ; in the animal, of an egg ; for though many animals are 
viviparous or produce their young alive, the process is in them 
essentially the same as in the oviparous, differing only in the cir- 
cumstance that incubation takes place within the body of the 
mother. 

The seed, then, corresponds to the egg, but there is a difference 
in the mode of their development. The organs of the animal are 
formed within the egg, and it is not extruded till it is capable of 
performing all those functions which are essential to its life. 
During this process it is nourished by the contents of the egg, or 
by materials derived from a subsequent continued connection 

* A doubt has sometimes arisen in regard to certain species, — whether they 
should be considered as belonging to the vegetable or animal kingdom. But the 
existence of this doubt does not involve any question as to the essential distinc- 
tion between these kingdoms. In fact, the very controversy involves the 
recognition of their fundamental difference. It may be further observed that 
this doubt has always existed with regard to individuals at the very lowest 
boundary of the two kingdoms. Now it is in the highest forms at which the 
two ever arrive that we are to seek for the distinction between them, and here 
we readily detect sufficient evidence that this distinction is an essential one. 
If we cannot detect this among the lower and more obscure forms, we have 
reason to infer, not that it does not exist, but that from a deficiency in our 
means of observation it eludes, the scrutiny. 



AS DISTINGUISHED FROM PLANTS. 15 

with its parent. In the seed, on the contrary, although it con- 
tains the germ of the future plant, and the process of development 
begins within it, yet it mainly takes place without, and it is not 
till after it has sent its roots into the earth, and its stem into the 
air, that the organs necessary to its future existence are con- 
structed. 

Plants and animals are equally dependent upon food, for the 
continuance of existence and the performance of their functions ; 
but they differ from each other in the manner in which it is 
done. In the plant it is effected by means of roots. These are 
usually distributed under the earth, but sometimes they float 
loosely in the water, are attached to other plants, or in some rare 
cases are only exposed to the air. In animals, on the contrary, 
food is received into an internal cavity, and undergoes the pro- 
cess of digestion, before it is admitted into the circulation, and 
applied to the nourishment of the system. The difference then 
is, that plants absorb their food by an external surface, whilst 
animals absorb it by an internal surface. 

They differ also in the nature of their food. Animals derive 
their nourishment chiefly, if not exclusively, from matter which 
has been already organized, either in some vegetable or animal 
system. Plants, on the contrary, derive it chiefly, if not exclu- 
sively, from elementary matter, or matter which is not in an 
organized state. It is true that they flourish best in a soil which 
contains the remains of vegetables and animals ; but it is only 
after these remains have lost their peculiar structure, and are in 
a state of decomposition, that they answer this purpose. A 
plant cannot subsist upon animal or vegetable substances as such, 
nor an animal upon simple unorganized matter. 

They differ again in their chemical composition. To vegetable 
substances three elements are principally necessary, — hydrogen, 
oxygen, and carbon. Animals in addition to these require a 
fourth, azote or nitrogen. It is true that there are some important 
vegetable substances into whose composition nitrogen enters, and 
some animal ones into whose composition it does not ; and that 
in addition to these principal ingredients there are certain sec- 
ondary ones which are more or less constantly present in both, 
such as salt, lime, sulphur, phosphorus, iron, and some others. 



16 CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS 

Still the predominance of nitrogen in animal substances is a dis- 
tinct and important peculiarity, and not only influences their 
textures during life, but the results of their decomposition after 
death. 

They differ, also, in their relation to the external atmosphere. 
The influence of the air is necessary to the existence of each, 
but in a different way. The lungs or other breathing organs of 
animals give out carbonic acid as the result of the function of 
respiration. The leaves, which are the breathing organs of 
plants, take in carbon as the result of their function of respira- 
tion. 

They differ again as to the manner in which their circulation 
is performed. Both are supported by means of a fluid which is 
distributed to every part, — the sap and the blood. But the mode 
of distribution differs. The vessels of plants are cylindrical ; 
they proceed parallel to each other from their origin in the 
root to the extremity of the branches, of the same size, without 
division, and, as some assert, without intercommunication. In 
animals, on the contrary, the vessels begin in large trunks, often 
from some central organ, or heart ; are constantly subdivided, 
and diminish in calibre as we approach their extremities ; are 
not parallel to each other ; and are frequently intercommuni- 
cating through their whole course. This at least is true of all 
those in which the arrangements of the circulation are capable of 
a careful examination. 

Another important difference is in the degree of permanence 
of the organs by which their principal functions are performed. 
In plants, no matter what their age may be, these endure but for 
a single season. Not only the leaves, but the circulating vessels, 
w r hich exist in the inner layer of the bark and in the alburnum, 
or external layer of wood, are annually renewed. In animals, 
on the contrary, all the important organs are permanent, and en- 
dure as long as the individual. 

This depends upon a difference in the laws according to which 
nutrition and growth take place in the two kingdoms. In each, 
the several organs require renovation and repair. In vegetables 
this is effected by the virtual death of the organ. It ceases to 
have any connection with the functions of the plant, even where 



AS DISTINGUISHED FROM PLANTS. 17 

it does not, as in the bark and wood of trees, undergo an actual 
separation. In animals the organ is not removed as a whole. 
It does not lose its shape, its texture, or its vital connection with 
the individual. Its separate particles are removed one by one 
and new ones substituted in their place, so that it is probably re- 
newed many times in the course of a year ; but the principle upon 
which this is done differs essentially from the corresponding one 
in plants. 

The final cause for this difference, as observed in plants which 
have a long continued existence, is at once wonderful and beau- 
tiful. Were the organs of plants renewed, like those of animals, 
by an interstitial growth, never increasing in size and strength 
after arriving at maturity, they would not be able to support 
the growth of many years. The parts by which nutrition is car- 
ried on form a thin cylindrical cavity, a mere shell, quite inad- 
equate to support the weight of the branches and leaves. But 
year by year a new growth is formed around it ; the old wood 
ceases to live, but continues its mechanical connection in order to 
give support and strength to the trunk, of which it afterward 
forms a part. By this deposit of new matter, as the wood is 
thrown inward the bark is thrown outward, and thus an annual 
increase of wood is insured, to. support the corresponding increase 
in the amount of branches, leaves, and fruit ; meanwhile the bark 
dries, cracks open, and forms a hard, rough, and irregular crust 
on the outside*. 

Hence it is that animals arrive at a limited size in a limited 
time, and for the greater part of their existence do not grow at 
all. The bones, when they have arrived at the hardness of 
mature life, cease to increase in bulk, and the other organs not 
being renewed every season, as in plants, gradually lose the 
perfectness of their texture and become unable to perform their 
functions. Some vegetables, as trees, on the contrary, have no 
such definite term of existence. They may live almost indefi- 
nitely, and grow as long as they live, because their organs are 
wholly new every year, and because those parts which correspond 
to bones increase in size and strength, in proportion to the amount 
of leaves and branches which they have to support. 

Even, then, in those functions which are common to both, 



18 CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS 

vegetables and animals differ from each other. But beside 
this there are certain others possessed by animals which vege- 
tables do not possess at all. These are sensation and voluntary 
motion. 

By means of sensation, the individual is informed of the ex- 
istence of other things beside himself; of their qualities, and of 
their relations to himself ; he is rendered capable of pleasure and 
pain ; in short, sensation is the indication of a conscious existence. 
By the power of voluntary motion, he is enabled to move the 
different parts of his body upon each other, and to move the 
whole body from place to place. 

To the exclusive possession of these powers by animals, there 
are apparent exceptions. Some vegetables do move from place 
to place with as much apparent volition as certain animals ; 
whilst there are some animals as immovably fixed to one spot 
as vegetables by their roots. There are also plants which ex- 
hibit motions seemingly as voluntary as those of some of the 
lowest animals, and for as definite a purpose. The sensi- 
tive plant is a striking example of this kind. ' The slightest 
touch makes its leaves suddenly shrink, and together with the 
branch bend down towards the earth. But the moving plant, or 
Hedysarum gyrans, furnishes a more astonishing example of 
vegetable motion. Its movements are not excited by the con- 
tact of external bodies, but solely by the influence of the sun's 
rays.* Its motions are confined to the leaves, which are sup- 
ported by long flexible footstalks. When the sun shines, the 
leaves move briskly in every direction. Their general motion, 
however, is upward and downward. But they not unfrequently 
turn almost round ; and then their footstalks are evidently 
twisted. These motions go on incessantly, as long as the heat 
of the sun continues. But they cease during the night, and 
when the weather is cold and cloudy. The Dioncea muscipula, 
or Venus's flytrap, a plant of Carolina, affords another instance 
of rapid vegetable motion. Its leaves are jointed, and furnished 
with two rows of strong spines. Their surfaces are covered with 
a number of minute glands, which secrete a sweet liquor, and 

* Sir J. E. Smith states that light is not necessary, but that only a warm, 
still atmosphere is required to produce this phenomenon in perfection. 



AS DISTINGUISHED FROM PLANTS. 19 

allure the approach of flies. When these parts are touched by 
the legs of the fly, the two lobes of the leaf instantly rise up, 
the rows of spines lock themselves fast together, and squeeze the 
unwary animal to death. If a straw or pin be introduced be- 
tween the lobes, the same motions are excited.' 

The common barberry is another instance to the same effect. 
When its flower is fully expanded, if the inside of one of the 
filaments of its stamens be just touched by a pin or a straw, it 
contracts instantly, and throws its anther forward with some 
force against the stigma. 

' When a seed is sown in a reversed position, the young root 
turns downward to enter the earth, and the stem berfds upward 
into the air. Confine a young stem to an inclined position, and 
its extremity will soon assume its former perpendicular direction.' 
The roots of a tree growing on dry or barren ground, in the 
neighborhood of that which is moist or fertile, become larger, 
longer, and more full in that direction than in any other, as if 
extending themselves to obtain the nourishment which can there 
be afforded them. If we twist the branch of a tree, so that the 
under surface of the leaves shall come uppermost, they gradually 
turn upon their footstalks till the proper side is exposed to the 
rays of the sun. This they will do repeatedly, until they have 
become injured by the exertion ; and if the leaf be confined, so 
that it cannot resume its natural position, its stalk will become 
twisted by the effort to accomplish it. The sunflower, the leaves 
of the mallow, and some other plants, generally turn their faces 
towards the sun. The tendrils of plants, on the other hand, move 
towards the shade, in whatever direction it may be. In a green- 
house, if exposed to the morning light, they direct themselves 
towards the west, at noon to the north, and at night to the east. 
They are also attracted by opaque bodies. 

Instances of a similar nature are afforded by what has been 
denominated the sleep of plants. The leaves of many are folded 
together during the night, and droop as if dying. In some in- 
stances they are so arranged, when in this state, as to serve as a 
cover to the flowers or young fruit. The flowers of other plants 
follow the same law, and close at the approach of night, for the 
apparent object of shelter and protection. 



20 GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

In many of these instances the motions so nearly resemble those 
of some of the lower animals, that it is not easy to say wherein 
they differ in principle, although in such cases there is no danger 
of supposing the plant to be an animal. Probably the principle 
of distinction is this. In the plant, the phenomena are purely 
local, and do not imply any connection with, and consciousness 
of, the individual considered as a whole. In the animal, on the 
contrary, we have reason to believe that the whole individual 
experiences a degree of consciousness. Touch a stamen of the 
barberry and a leaf of the sensitive plant, and that stamen and 
that leaf contract. But touch the petals of the barberry, and the 
stamen will not contract ; touch the stem of the sensitive plant, 
and the leaf will not. On the contrary, touch any part of an 
oyster whose shell is open, and the muscle which closes the shell, 
though at a distance, contracts and closes it. So when the arms 
or feelers of a snail are extended, touch any one, or touch any 
part of the body, and they w r ill all be contracted. 

The inference is, that in an animal there is some central power 
or principle giving to it a unity of being and purpose, which is 
wanting in a vegetable. This is called the sensorial power. It 
is that directing and controlling principle which receives all im- 
pressions from without, and from which proceed all the voluntary 
motions. Its residence is in the brain and nervous system. Its 
powers become less complete and extensive as we descend from 
man to the lower animals, in proportion as the brain and nervous 
system become less perfect; but, go as low as we will, traces of it 
are still to be found. 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

Having thus endeavored to illustrate the relation which ani- 
mals bear to other bodies, and the peculiarities by which their 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 21 

mode of existence is characterized, it is our next object to inquire 
how their existence is maintained. 

This will be done most clearly by an examination of the sub- 
ject in connection with man, the animal in whom all the purposes 
of life are carried out on the largest scale and in the most com- 
plete manner. We call him the most perfect of animals. Not 
that the structure of the lowest is less perfect in itself than that of 
the highest. Each species is adapted equally well to its own end. 
But the end of his being is higher in man ; its purposes are more 
numerous, varied, and elevated ; we place him, therefore, at the 
head of the creation, and yet in the lowest animals the purposes 
of their existence, such as they are, are carried out with as much 
skill and by as perfect an apparatus as in him. 

The life of animals is maintained, as has been already stated, 
by two sets of functions ; one set common to all living things, 
by which the life of the individual is maintained ; and another set 
by which the individual maintains a connection with the external 
world. The former are called the organic functions, or functions 
of organic life ; the latter, the animal functions, or functions of 
animal life. The former are in man wholly subsidiary to the 
latter. It is the animal functions which make him what he is. 
He digests no better, he breathes no better, he circulates no 
better than the lowest of his class. It is in the combined per- 
fection of sensation, motion, intelligence, and speech that he 
excels them all*. 

As the distinctive character of man depends upon the mode in 
which these functions are performed, so his external form is the 
expression of that character. The organs of intellect, of sense, 
of motion, of voice, constitute this form. As the basis or sup- 
port of it, there is a bony structure or skeleton, which will be 
first described. 

The bones of the human body are divided into those of the 
head, trunk, and extremities. 

The head includes the cranium, or skull, and the face. The 
skull is a large bony cavity, composed of several wide, thin, and 
arched bones, united together by what are called sutures. It 
contains the brain, and gives passage to the spinal nerve through 
a hole situated in its lower part, where it proceeds from the 



22 GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

brain, and goes to the backbone. The face is formed of the 
upper and lower jaws, and of the organs of seeing, smelling, and 
tasting. The bones which form the basis of these organs, are 
very numerous and difficult to describe. When taken together 
they give the general shape and configuration of the counte- 
nance. 

The head is placed on the top of the backbone, and is capable 
of a variety of motions upon it. The backbone is the main 
support of the trunk of the body, and is composed of twenty-four 
distinct bones called vertebras, placed one above another, so as to 
form a kind of pillar or column. The body of each vertebra 
consists of a solid cylindrical piece of bone, and this is united 
firmly to those contiguous to it, above and below, by strong and 
elastic cartilages. The body of the vertebra is solid; but behind 
it, and on each side, are projections of bone, called pro- 
Fig-JL. cesses, which are arched over and connected together 
in such a manner as to form a canal from one end of the 
spine to the other. This canal contains the spinal nerve 
or marrow, and between the vertebrae are holes through 
Vertebra, which branches are sent out to the different parts of the 
body. (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.) 
Seven of the vertebrae belong to the neck, twelve to the back, 
and five to the loins. They are called respectively the cervical, 
dorsal, and lumbar vertebrae. They increase in size from above 
downwards, so that the lumbar vertebrae are much larger, thicker, 
and stronger than those of the back and neck. To the dorsal 
vertebrae are affixed twelve ribs on each side, which arch over 
forwards, and are joined to the sternum or breastbone by means 
of cartilage or gristle. In this way they form the cavity of the 
thorax or chest, which contains the heart and lungs. This cavity 
is terminated below by a muscular membrane, called the dia- 
phragm or midriff, which extends from the edges of the lower 
ribs, and stretches across to the backbone, so as to form a com- 
plete curtain or division between the chest, and the abdomen 
which lies below it. This is another important cavity, usually 
called the belly, containing the stomach, liver, spleen, intes- 
tines, and other important organs. It is formed below by four 
bones attached to the lower end of the back, which spread out 




GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 



23 



Fig. 2. 
Skeleton of Man. 



Frontal bone. 



Under jaw. 

Vertebra of neck. 
Scapula or shoul- 
der-blade. 



Humerus or . 



Lumbar vertebrae 



Hip-bones or 

Ulna. 
Radius 

Wrist or carpal 

bones. 
Metacarpal bones, 

Fingers or Pha- 



Thigh. 



Tibia. 
Fibula. 



Tarsal or ankle 
bones. 




Parietal bone. 



Temporal bone. 



Clavicle or collar- 
bone. 



Arm. 



Pelvis. 



Forearm . 



Thigh. 



— Kneepan. 



Leg. 

Tarsus. 
Metatarsus. 

Phalanges. 



24 GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

and constitute a sort of basin, called the pelvis. This serves 
as a solid basis to support all the heavy organs contained 
in the abdomen, which is protected before and at its sides only 
by skin, fat, and muscles, and has no bones, except below and 
behind. 

The limbs of man and other animals are called their extrem- 
ities. The arm, or upper extremity, is composed of the shoulder, 
which has two bones, the collar-bone and shoulder-blade, by 
which it is connected with the trunk ; the arm, which has only 
one bone, long and firm, extending to the elbow ; the fore- 
arm, which has two long bones, parallel to each other, extending 
from the elbow to the wrist ; the wrist, having eight small and 
irregular bones ; and the hand, on which there are four fingers, 
each with four bones, and the thumb with three. These bones are 
united together, so as to form movable joints of various degrees 
of flexibility and power, by means of firm substances called liga- 
ments. The surfaces which move upon one another are covered 
by a smooth, polished substance, cartilage, always lubricated by a 
fluid like the white of eggs, that renders all their motions easy 
and free from impediment. 

The lower extremities are constructed in a similar manner. 
The thigh-bone, the largest and strongest bone in the body, is 
connected above with one of the bones of the pelvis, by means 
of a large, round head, which is received into a socket of corre- 
sponding size, and thus forms the hip-joint. Its lower end, to- 
gether with the kneepan and one of the two bones of the leg, 
contributes to form the knee-joint. These last are parallel to 
each other, and extend from the knee to the ankle. The ankle 
is composed, like the wrist, of a number of small bones, of which 
there are seven, one of them projecting behind to form the heel. 
The toes have the same number of bones as the fingers and 
thumbs, but are shorter and less capable of free and extensive 
motions. 

These different bones are covered by muscles, fat, and skin, 
which constitute the principal soft parts of the body. The mus- 
cles are fibrous organs, which, attached to the bones generally by 
tendons, by their contractions put the bones in motion, and thus 
originate all the movements of which we are capable. They act, 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 25 

in fact, like cords attached to levers, and operate according to 
strict mechanical principles. 

The organs, by whose operation the digestion of food, the cir- 
culation of the blood, and the other important functions are per- 
formed, are contained in the three cavities of the cranium, the 
thorax, and the abdomen, which have been already cursorily 
described. We proceed to a consideration of these several func- 
tions, beginning with those of the brain and senses. 

The brain, in man, is the grand centre of sensation and per- 
ception. It is the instrument through which the mind maintains 
its connection with the body ; and this connection is extended 
from the brain to the other parts by means of nerves. The 
brain is a large organ, of a peculiar texture, occupying the whole 
of the cavity of the cranium, and consisting of several distinct 
parts. Several pairs of nerves proceed from it through different 
apertures in the skull, and are distributed to the parts about the 
head, to convey to them the powers of sensation and motion. 
But besides these, there is another large single nerve passing 
down into the canal formed by the vertebrae, already described, 
and supplying the greater part of the body and limbs. (Fig. 3.) 

Through the nerves, impressions are transmitted from all parts 
of the body to the brain ; and on the other hand, all the acts of 
the will produce an effect upon the different organs by their 
means. The nerves are necessary to the exercise of the senses 
(which in man. are five : seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and 
feeling) ; for if the nerve going to the organ of either of these 
senses be injured, the mind no longer receives any impression 
from that sense, as happens in the disease of the eye called gutta 
serena, or amaurosis. And if the nerve going to any of the limbs 
be destroyed or obstructed, both sensation and power of motion 
in that limb are either destroyed or suspended. This happens 
when a limb, from long-continued pressure upon it, is said to be 
asleep ; as, in sitting for some time in one particular position, the 
nerve going to one of the legs is pressed upon, and the connection 
with the brain being thus interrupted, the consequence is a loss 
of feeling and motion, which is sometimes so great as to cause 
the person affected to fall down, on attempting to walk. 

The senses, taken altogether, are more perfect in man than 
2 



26 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 
Fig. 3. 




Nervous System in Man. — In this figure is represented the general distribution of the 
brain and nerves throughout the body. 

a, the principal portions of the brain or cerebrum, called the hemispheres ; &, a smaller 
distinct portion, — the cerebellum; c, the spinal nerve which passes down the back 
through a canal formed by the vertebrae; d, nerves of the face; e, a network or col- 
lection of nerves to supply the arm ; /, g, h, i , nerves of the arm ; /, of the ribs ; k, of 
the loins ; l } of the hip and thigh or the sciatic ; m, n, o, of the leg. 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 27 

in any other animal. Yet in each of them, individually, he is 
probably excelled by some particular species. Thus, in sight, 
he is exceeded by the vulture and eagle ; in hearing, by the 
greater number of rapacious quadrupeds ; in smell, by the dog ; 
in taste, by a great many animals ; and in nicety and delicacy 
of touch and feeling, by most insects. 

In performing the function of digestion, the food is in the first 
place taken into the mouth, mixed with the saliva, and ground 
into a kind of paste, by the action of the jaws and teeth. It is 
then swallowed through a long muscular canal, the oesophagus or 
gullet, which passes through the thorax behind the heart and 
lungs, near the backbone, and is conveyed into the stomach, 
through its upper or cardiac orifice. This is an irregularly- 
shaped muscular bag or sack, situated in the upper part of the 
abdomen, at the spot usually called the pit of the stomach. It 
is capable of great distention or contraction, according to the 
quantity which is put into it. In the stomach, the food is acted 
on by a peculiar fluid, called the gastric juice. It has no re- 
markable sensible qualities, and is nearly tasteless and destitute 
of odor ; but its operation upon the substances exposed to its 
influence is very decided and powerful. They are gradually 
reduced, of whatever kind they may be, to one homogeneous 
mass, called chyme, of a grayish color, and of a consistence like 
that of thick cream. This operation being completed, the chyme 
passes out of the stomach, by its lower or pyloric orifice, situated 
towards the right side, into the intestines, which form a long 
canal, and, taken together, are many times longer than the body. 

In the intestines, the chyme is subjected to the action of the 
bile and pancreatic juice. The bile, or gall, is a brown-colored, 
viscid, and very bitter fluid, prepared by the liver, a large organ 
on the right side, just beneath the ribs, and collected into the 
gall-bladder, where a part of it is reserved for use. The pan- 
creatic juice resembles very nearly the saliva in color and ap- 
pearance, and is prepared by the pancreas, an organ situated 
just below the stomach. These two fluids, the whole of whose 
office is only imperfectly understood, are mixed with the chyme, 
which is then separated into two parts. One of these is a thin, 
milky fluid, called chyle ; the remainder consists of those portions 



28 GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

of the food which are not fit for the nourishment of the system, 
but are rejected and thrown out of it, as useless. The chyle is 
gradually absorbed by capillary vessels, called the lacteals, open- 
ing into the intestines through nearly their whole course, and 
conveyed into a vessel called the thoracic duct. This duct as- 
cends from the abdomen along the back into the thorax, and 
there empties its contents into the vein coming from the left arm, 
or left subclavian, where the chyle is immediately mingled with 
the mass of blood, and enters with it into the circulation. The 
chyle is essentially of the same composition from whatever sub- 
stance it is prepared, when the digestion is perfect. Some kinds 
of food, however, are capable of furnishing a larger proportion 
of it than others : this is the case with animal food, of which it 
takes a smaller quantity to supply the system with nourishment, 
than of vegetable. Animal substances are not required to 
undergo so great a change in their conversion into chyle, as 
vegetable ; and hence it is observed, that in animals subsist- 
ing on vegetables, the digestive organs are more various, exten- 
sive, and complicated, than in those which are carnivorous. 

The chyle, being mixed with the blood, becomes a part of it, 
although it is not known where or how its change from the white 

Tig. 4. 
Windpipe and bloodvessels. 



Lungs. j I I Lungs. 



Heart and bloodvessels 
Contents of the thorax or chest in man : the windpipe or trachea, lungs, heart, and 
bloodvessels. 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 



29 



to the red color is effected. It is then circulated throughout the 
body, by the heart, the arteries, and the veins. The heart is 
a hollow muscular organ, the main-spring of the circulation; 
the arteries are long cylindrical canals or pipes, carrying the 
blood from the heart to the different parts of the body ; the veins 
are vessels of a similar form and structure, bringing the blood 
back to the heart, after it has gone the round of circulation. 
The relation of the several parts of the heart to each other 
is illustrated in the following diagram. It supposes the organ 
to be cut open, and its cavities with their connecting valves to be 
displayed. The relative size and position of the parts are varied 
from nature in order to present a more intelligible view of their 
mechanism. 

Fig. 5. 
Aorta. 



Pulmonary artery 
Descending vena cava. 



Pulmonary veins. 



Right auricle. 
Tricuspid valves. 

Ascending vena cava. 
Right ventricle. 




Pulmonary artery. 
Pulmonary veins. 

Left auricle. 
Mitral valves. 



Left ventricle. 



Partition. 



Aorta. 



The heart in man is a double organ ; that is, it consists of two 
complete and distinct organs, united together into one mass, but 
performing their functions without interference or connection. 
These two parts are called the right and left sides of the heart ; 
and each has two distinct cavities, called auricles and ventricles. 
The right side of the heart receives the blood from the body at 
large, and sends it to the lungs ; the left receives it from the 
lungs, and sends it to the body. The heart is of a conoidal shape, 
situated in the thorax, just within the sternum, a little inclin- 
ing to the left side. It is, however, placed with the apex, or 
point of the cone, extending downwards and to the left, so that it 
touches the ribs at the spot where the beating is felt, and hence 



30 GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

is often supposed to lie entirely on the left side. The main body 
of the heart is composed of the two ventricles, which are strong 
muscular cavities, the left far more so than the right ; the auri- 
cles are situated around the base of the organ, seeming rather to 
be loose appendages than constituent parts of it. 

We shall begin with the course of the blood at the point where 
it receives its new supply from the chyle. The subclavian vein, 
after uniting with the vein from the other arm and the veins 
coming down from the head and neck, conveys its blood immedi- 
ately to the right auricle, where it meets with that brought from 
the lower parts of the body. The two trunks which bring the 
venous blood in this way to the heart, are called the descending 
and ascending vense cavae. They pour their blood into the right 
auricle, which contracts, and expels it, through an opening for 
that purpose, into the right ventricle. This opening is guarded 
by the tricuspid valves, which prevent the flowing back of the 
blood, by completely closing the passage. When the ventricle 
has become distended, it contracts in its turn, and the blood, being 
prevented from returning to the auricle, is thrown forward into 
the pulmonary artery, which carries it to the lungs. This passage 
is also guarded by valves. 

At the time of its passage through the right side of the heart, 
the blood is of a dark bluish red or purple color, approaching 
almost to black. It is generally called black blood, and is neither 
fit for circulation in the vessels, nor for the nourishment of the 
different parts. In this state it is sent to the lungs. These fill 
up all that part of the cavity of the chest not occupied by the 
heart, which they nearly surround upon all sides. They consist 
principally of a collection of blood and air vessels, and are con- 
stantly supplied with air, which is drawn in through the wind- 
pipe, and distributed to every part of them. The blood is 
circulated throughout their substance, by the branches of the 
pulmonary artery, and is, in its course, exposed to the influence 
of the air. By this means, its color is changed to a bright crim- 
son or vermilion, and it becomes fit for the purposes of life. 

It is now brought back to the left side of the heart, by the 
pulmonary veins, and passes through the left auricle and ven- 
tricle, in a manner similar to that which has been already de- 



GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 31 

scribed with regard to the right side. The left ventricle, from its 
superior size and strength, gives to the blood a more powerful 
impulse than that which it receives from the right. This is neces- 
sary, because it has a wider and more extensive course to trav- 
erse. From the left ventricle, it is thrown into the aorta, the 
great artery which supplies the whole body with blood. This 
artery ascends from the heart for a short distance, arches over, 
sends branches to the head and arms, and then descends be- 
hind the heart, and distributes branches to the other parts of the 
system. 

The branches thus distributed throughout the body are sub- 
divided again and again to an almost inconceivable degree of 
minuteness, and finally terminate in a system of vessels called 
capillary vessels. These pervade every part; and the blood, 
after passing through them, enters into another set of vessels, the 
veins, which gradually collect together and enlarge in size, till 
they terminate, as has been before remarked, in two large trunks 
at the right auricle of the heart. In the capillary vessels, the 
blood undergoes a change in its qualities, precisely opposite to 
that which takes place in the lungs. It becomes, from a bright 
red color, of the same dark red which it was described to possess 
when passing through the right side of the heart. This change 
is presumed to proceed from the office which the blood performs 
in the nutrition of the body during its circulation, and by which 
some of its elements are abstracted from it, and combined with 
the texture of the organs. 

This office, namely, the nutrition of the several parts, consists 
of a double operation. By the first, the particles of an organ 
which have become unfit any longer to enter into its composition, 
are taken up and carried back into the circulation. This process 
is called absorption ; by the second, called nutrition, new 
particles are substituted in their place. In this way the injury 
sustained by the wear and tear of the system is constantly re- 
paired, and each part is kept fit for use. 

The particles which thus go back into the blood, and circulate 
with it, are not, however, retained in the system for any length 
of time. They are speedily separated by a process called ex- 
cretion, and are carried off chiefly by the skin, the lungs, and 
the kidneys. 



32 STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS 

CHAPTER IV. 

STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 

Although it is no part of the plan of this work to enter into 
a detailed account of the Natural History of animals, especially 
of their scientific arrangement, still it will be necessary to give 
some general description of the system of classification usually 
received among naturalists, and of the principles on which it is 
founded. 

The functions briefly described in the last chapter, by which life 
is maintained, are few in number and definite in purpose. They 
are essentially present in all animals : that is to say, it is neces- 
sary to all that their systems should be supported by blood, 
which is effected by a circulation of some kind, however 
simple ; that this blood should be regularly exposed to the in- 
fluence of the air by respiration ; that the effete particles 
should be removed from the textures by absorption, and from 
the body by secretion and excretion, and that they should 
be restored to the blood by digestion. It is necessary, also, 
that they should have a perception of objects external to them- 
selves by means of sensation, and the power of moving the 
parts of their body by the will or locomotion. These func- 
tions are present in all, though performed in a much more lim- 
ited manner in some than in others ; so that, — notwithstanding 
this essential identity of function, — in no two is there the same 
form and structure. They exhibit an almost endless variety in 
the manner in which the objects of life are accomplished, and 
out of this grows their almost endless variety in external form, and 
in some degree, though to a far less extent, in their internal or- 
ganization. 

This variety seems intended to adapt them to different resi- 
dences, to live in different mediums, and for their universal dis- 
tribution over the surface of the earth. It is thus that quadrupeds 
are fitted for the land, birds for the air, and fishes for the water ; 
and it may be taken as a fundamental principle, that the varieties 



AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 35 

of external form and internal organization which animals exhibit 
are intended to adapt them for something in those particular 
external circumstances in which they are placed. The reason 
is obvious enough why this should be necessary with regard to 
their organs of sense and motion, but not so clear with regard to 
their internal structure. Yet it is not less so. A correspondence 
is found to exist between all the parts of an animal. It may be 
'primarily necessary, in order to adapt an individual species to its 
destined residence and kind of food, that only a single set of its 
organs should be modified, but then, on account of the intimate 
relations and reciprocal dependence of the functions, it becomes 
secondarily as necessary that some modification take place in 
every other organ, in order to that perfect harmony of action 
which Nature requires. 

Suppose we substitute for one of the wheels of a watch, an- 
other which has a single tooth less. By even so slight an 
alteration as this, the whole movement of the machine will be 
deranged. It will cease to keep exact time, because the corre- 
spondence between all its parts has been destroyed. This can only 
be remedied by remodelling every other part so as to restore this 
correspondence. Here, perhaps, we must substitute a smaller 
wheel, and there a larger ; this lever must be longer, and that 
shorter ; and so on till the movements are again equalized, and 
harmony restored. Similar modifications are required in the 
more delicate and more nicely adapted machinery of which the 
bodies of animals are examples. Alter the mode of performing one 
function, and you disturb its harmony with the others, unless at the 
same time you introduce a corresponding modification into them. 

This would be in fact to make a new animal. It is in this 
way, indeed, that Nature makes new animals, or, to speak more 
exactly, in this way she has been able, out of a limited number 
of organs and functions, to produce the immense variety of kinds 
with which her dominions are filled. 

When an animal is to be constructed to live upon food not very 
unlike that of man, but to seek it in a different way ; in a par- 
ticular part of the earth, where it is presented to him spontane- 
ously through the whole year, and therefore requiring a less 
varied intelligence ; obliged to ascend trees, partly to procure 
2* 



34 STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

this food and partly to escape his natural enemies, — Nature does 
not invent a new plan, but makes certain necessary alterations in 
her old one. She takes man. She shortens and weakens his legs, 
but lengthens and strengthens his arms. She takes away his 
feet and gives him hands upon all four of his extremities, less per- 
fect than those of his prototype, but as perfect as his purposes re- 
quire. She sharpens some of his senses, but diminishes his in- 
tellect. She gives him, therefore, a larger face with a smaller 
head, and then, after a variety of changes in correspondence with 
these, she has converted a man into a monkey. 

Something analogous to this we observe among mankind in a 
variety of their works of art. From time immemorial, man has 
navigated the ocean in vessels impelled by the wind, and he has 
constructed them accordingly. But a new agent of motion, steam, 
is discovered, and this he desires to apply to the propelling of 
vessels on the water, as well as of machinery on land. He does 
not cast aside his old model, but modifies it and adapts it. With 
the same general shape and framework, certain parts are made 
stronger to endure the weight and motions of the ponderous 
machinery ; other parts weaker because they have no longer to 
endure the strain of the masts and sails ; some parts formerly 
devoted to other purposes must be now devoted to the stowing of 
fuel. Then the construction varies according as the vessel is in- 
tended to navigate a river, a lake, or the ocean, to be used in 
commerce or in war. In short, a new kind of structure is de- 
veloped, in which all the parts are modified according to the new 
purpose. With our limited faculties this is only accomplished 
after long experience, many mistakes, many disasters, and, after 
all, the work is clumsy, and the harmony of parts imperfect, when 
compared with those examples of the same process with which 
the Creator has so profusely surrounded us. 

It is by the pursuance of this plan that all Nature has been 
made full of life. Were there only a single form of animal ex- 
istence, the earth would be for the most part untenanted. Man 
occupies but a small part of its surface and consumes but a small 
part of its productions. By the multiplication of the forms of 
life, there is an animal for every place and a place for every 
animal. As a general rule, there is no waste of material ; the 



AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 35 

variety of life furnishes a consumer for every product. The 
deer feeds upon grass, and is seized by the wolf; the wolf 
dies, and furnishes food for a thousand insects ; these also are 
devoured in their turn, — whilst all those vegetable and animal 
products not thus directly appropriated to the support of life, 
in their decay indirectly subserve to a more luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, and reappear in new forms to answer the same purposes. 

Thus it is that a great variety of kinds among animals is a 
necessary provision in a world constituted as this is ; the final 
cause being that no room should be unoccupied, but that life and 
enjoyment should pervade every part. It follows that there will 
always be found a correspondence between the manner in which 
the ends of life are accomplished in each species, and the sphere 
in which that species is intended to move. Naturalists, in their 
examination of the animal kingdom with reference to its history 
and methodical arrangement, have always reference to this corre- 
spondence, and it is expedient, in order to the clearest illustration 
of the subject, to state somewhat more minutely the principles on 
which this correspondence of structure to purpose is regulated. 
In order to this, we may take one of the functions most immediate 
to life and see how its organ, and the mode and the quantity of 
its performance, are modified in this way. 

One of the most important circumstances of external condition 
is the medium in which an animal resides, air or water. It ren- 
ders necessary some modifications in shape, organs of motion, 
senses, covering, weapons of defence, &c, but more especially it 
renders necessary an appropriate structure of the organs of 
respiration. 

Animals which breathe air have lungs, into the interior of which 
air enters, and, through their internal surface, exercises its in- 
fluence on the blood. Animals that breathe in water have gills, 
or branchice, over the outside of which the water is made to pass, 
and, by means of the air that it contains, influences the blood 
through their external surface. 

As the quantity of air contained in water is small, the quantity 
of blood renovated by its influence in a given time will be small, 
unless the organs of respiration are made very extensive. But 
this is not necessary to the condition of aquatic animals, and con- 



36 STEUCTUEE OF ANIMALS 

•» 
sequently the blood is proportionately less rapidly and frequently 
renovated in fishes than in quadrupeds and birds. 

A variety of consequences, more or less direct, follow from this 
difference in respiration. The organs of circulation will be 
modified to correspond, and so too the structure of the body in 
other particulars. Air may be conveniently drawn into an in- 
terior cavity of the body, but this could not be conveniently done 
with water in the large quantities employed, especially as it is 
necessary that it should pass in a continued and rapid stream 
over the gills. The apparatus for inhaling and exhaling air must 
be very different from that destined to produce the requisite 
current of water ; consequently the form of the head and chest, 
and the interior arrangement of the organs contained in them, 
will undergo more or less modification. 

There is a close relation between the exercise of muscular 
power and the amount of respiration. Muscular action produces 
very rapidly that deterioration in the blood which it is the prov- 
ince of respiration to repair. Hence those animals whose mode of 
life calls for very extensive motion, require an ample respiratory 
apparatus. Birds and insects are of this description. Living and 
moving in the air, their motions demand a much larger expendi- 
ture of power than those of animals that are confined to the sur- 
face of the earth. Accordingly in them the respiratory apparatus 
is more largely developed than in other classes. The air in birds 
is not only conveyed to the lungs, but is also distributed to every 
part of the body ; whilst the bodies of insects, which have no 
distinct lungs, are in all parts pervaded by it. 

In reptiles and fishes, the opposite state of things is observed ; 
their motions are comparatively slow, sluggish, infrequent, and 
requiring little exercise of power. In accordance with this, 
their respiration is limited ; in the former, by the admission of 
a comparatively small quantity of air, and in the latter, by the 
substitution of water for air, as the medium through which the 
function is carried on. 

For the same reason that an active and extensive respiration 
implies a powerful muscular apparatus, it also requires a powerful 
digestive apparatus to supply the greater waste of material which 
is thus occasioned. Not that respiration simply considered re- 



AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 37 

quires a large supply of food, but the increased activity of other 
organs, especially those of motion, which attend an extensive 
respiration, requires such a supply. Hence in birds the diges- 
tion is more vigorous and speedy than in other animals, and they 
need the most frequent supplies of food, while reptiles eat but 
seldom and endure long fasts. 

The several functions that have been mentioned are all, then, 
connected with respiration by certain laws of relation which do 
not admit of essential exceptions, and require a modification in 
the organs by which they are performed. It is not intended to 
imply that all varieties in animal structure are due to a control- 
ling influence in the respiratory function. On the contrary, this 
influence is controlled and qualified by the others. We might as 
well assume some of the other functions as the standard, — circu- 
lation, digestion, or locomotion, — and by following out the same 
process of comparison, arrive at analogous results. Thus the 
organs of locomotion in the fish, and the power displayed in its 
movements, imply a mode of respiration inferior in extent to that 
of birds and quadrupeds, as much as their mode of respiration 
implies an inferiority in locomotive power. Either of them, ex- 
amined first, implies the other. A corresponding remark may be 
made concerning birds. Their extensive provision for the sup- 
ply of air, on the one hand, implies the existence of an extensive 
and vigorous muscular apparatus, — whilst, on the other, the fact 
of the existence of such an apparatus implies an abundant supply 
of air. Whichever condition is first known to us, we may with 
certainty infer the other. 

But it is impossible in any way so well to illustrate the law of 
animal construction to which reference has been made, as by 
quoting the words of Cuvier, the great father of the modern sci- 
ence of Natural History, who has explained it, both in principle 
and in one of its applications, in the following luminous remarks. 

" Every organized being consists of parts which correspond 
mutually, which concur by means of reciprocal influences to a 
common end, and thus form a whole, a perfect system. No one 
part can change without the others being modified, and, conse- 
quently, each taken separately, indicates all the others. 

" Thus if the stomach of an animal is adapted to the digestion 



38 STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS 

of raw flesh, the jaws must be constructed for devouring prey, 
the claws for seizing and tearing it, the teeth for lacerating and 
dividing its flesh, the whole apparatus of moving powers for 
pursuing and overtaking it, the organs of sense for perceiving it 
at a distance. Nature must, moreover, have implanted in the brain 
an impulse or instinct leading such a creature to conceal itself and 
lie in wait for its victims. Such are the general conditions of 
the carnivorous regimen. Every flesh-devouring animal unites 
them necessarily ; for its species could not otherwise subsist. 
But beside these general conditions there are subordinate ones, 
relating to the size, the species, and the abode of the prey, and 
each of these secondary conditions gives rise to differences of de- 
tail in the forms which result from the general laws. Hence not 
only the class, but the order, the genus, and even the species, are 
expressed in the form of each part. 

" To give the jaw the power of seizing, a particular form of 
the part which forms the joint of the bone is necessary ; there 
must be a certain relation between the position of the resistance, 
the moving power, and the fulcrum ; a certain volume in the 
temporal muscle,* requiring a proportional capacity in the cavity 
which lodges it, and a proportionate convexity in the zygomatic 
arch under which it passes ; this bony arch must also possess a 
certain strength to support the action of the masseter.* 

" In bearing away the prey, a certain force is required in the 
muscles that raise the head ; hence the necessity of a determi- 
nate form in the vertebra?, whence these muscles arise, and in the 
occiput, where they are inserted. 

" For dividing flesh, cutting teeth are required ; and they must 
be more or less cutting, in proportion as they are more or less 
exclusively occupied in that way. Their basis must be solid, if 
they are employed in breaking and comminuting bones, par- 
ticularly if the bones are strong. These circumstances will in- 
fluence the development of all the parts employed in moving the 
jaw. 

" Mobility of the toes and strength of the nails are necessary 
for seizing the prey ; hence arise determinate forms of the fingers, 
and particular distribution of muscles and tendons. There must 
* Muscles which move the jaw. 



AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 39 

be a power of rotating the forearm, and consequently a partic- 
ular form of the bones composing it ; and, as the latter are articu- 
lated to the humerus (bone of the arm), any alterations in them 
must modify its figure. 

" Animals which employ their fore limbs in seizing must have 
strong shoulders ; the shoulder-blade and collar-bone will accord- 
ingly exhibit certain modifications. The muscles must have 
forms-, size, and strength, suitable to the actions of which the 
bones and joints just enumerated are capable ; while their at- 
tachments and contractions impress a particular figure on the solid 
organs. 

" Similar conclusions may be drawn respecting the posterior 
extremities, which contribute to the rapidity of the general mo- 
tions ; respecting the composition of the trunk, and the form of 
the vertebrae, which influence the facility of these motions ; re- 
specting the bones of the nose, of the orbit, and the ear, which 
have obvious relations to the degree of perfection in the senses 
of smelling, seeing, and hearing. In a w r ord, the form of the 
tooth determines that of the jaw, — the form of the shoulder- 
blade that of the nails ; just as the equation of a curve indicates 
all its properties. As in taking each property separately for the 
basis of a particular equation, we might arrive not only at the 
ordinary equation, but at all the other properties whatever, so 
the nail, the scapula, the head of the jaw-bone, the thigh-bone, 
and all the other bones, taken separately, would each indicate the 
kind of teeth, or would indicate each other reciprocally ; and, be- 
ginning with either separately, we might according to the rational 
laws of the organic economy construct (or calculate the construc- 
tion of) the whole animal." 

So much truth has been found in these remarks of this great 
philosopher, that what he has thus intimated has been repeatedly 
done both by himself and others ; namely, from a few remaining 
parts of some extinct and unknown animal, the undiscovered 
parts have been calculated, and the anatomical character of the 
whole individual has been determined. So complete is this cor- 
respondence of parts, that a distinguished living naturalist, from a 
few scales of a fish, has decided the probable form and character 
of the extinct species from which they came. 



40 STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS 

But although Nature has thus been governed by strict rules in 
the construction of the organs of primary importance, there is 
some considerable latitude with regard to those that are of sec- 
ondary. Thus in the dog, notwithstanding the great differences 
exhibited by the several varieties of this animal in color, shape, 
size, quantity of hair, expression of countenance, and other ex- 
ternal characteristics, anatomists do not detect any corresponding 
differences of internal structure. It is not unlikely that even 
these varieties may be actually owing to the operation of some 
definite laws of Nature ; but, if so, we have not yet attained to a 
knowledge of them. 

It is upon considerations derived from the study of the ani- 
mal kingdom in these relations, that systems of classification 
have been founded ; and, although it is no part of the plan of this 
work to teach systematic zoology, yet is it necessary to have 
some such system before us in order to the most perspicuous 
treatment of our subject. 

In a system of classification, animals are arranged in certain 
divisions, and these divisions are distinguished by characteristic 
marks. The divisions universally recognized as founded in 
Nature, are those of genera and species. Each distinct kind of 
animal constitutes a species, and there is usually supposed for 
each a distinct creation. The dog, the horse, the cat, are distinct 
species, and in them the essential characteristics of structure do 
not vary. Still there are many differences in subordinate partic- 
ulars, especially with regard to external peculiarities, which give 
rise to what are called varieties. These varieties are most 
numerous among domesticated animals. Thus in the horse, 
the Canadian pony is an example of variety in size, — the race- 
horse and cart-horse of variety in shape and proportion, — black, 
bay, and white, in color. Other domestic animals, the cow, 
sheep, fowl, dog, exhibit varieties as great. But examine the 
feet, the teeth, the heart, the lungs, the stomach, the intestines, 
of the individuals that vary so much externally, and the differ- 
ence vanishes. 

When a number of species resemble each other so closely in 
some of the secondary peculiarities of anatomical structure as to 
distinguish them from all others and give them a kind of family 



AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 41 

likeness among themselves, they constitute a genus. Thus the 
genus Felis includes all those of the cat kind ; and these animals, 
although differing one from another very much in size and color, 
have yet a close resemblance in their general form, figure, char- 
acter, and habits of life. The genus Canis includes those of the 
dog kind ; the wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the domestic dog, of 
which the same remark may be made. Thus, too, the horse, the 
ass, and the zebra are of the same genus, Equus, on account of 
their obvious general similarity. 

The genus then is made up of a number of species, there 
being as many species as there are sorts of animals. Thus the 
cat, the tiger, the lion, leopard, jaguar, and catamount are all 
separate species ; but taken together with others, they constitute 
the genus Felis. Thus, too, the genus Canis contains the dog, 
the wolf, the jackal, the fox, &c, which are all so many dis- 
tinct species. The genus Sciurus contains the gray, red, striped, 
and many other squirrels. In treating of any particular animal, 
naturalists are accustomed to designate it by a name derived 
from its genus and species. This name is composed of two 
words ; the first being the name of its genus ; and the second, 
the name of the species, being altogether arbitrary, or else ex- 
pressing some circumstance relating to the color, size, or resi- 
dence of the animal, which serves in a degree to distinguish it 
from others. The first is called its generic, the second its trivial 
or specific name, and they correspond very closely to the names 
of human individuals ; the generic term answering to the Sur- 
name, which designates the family to which any one belongs, and 
the trivial to the Christian name, which designates the particular 
individual. 

To give an example : the different species of the genus Felis, 
above mentioned, are distinguished one from another in the fol- 
lowing manner. The lion is called Felis leo ; the tiger, Felis 
tigris ; the leopard, Felis leopardus ; the jaguar, Felis onca ; the 
lynx, Felis lynx ; the serval, Felis serval. In the genus Canis, 
the dog is called Canis domesticus ; the wolf, Canis lupus ; the 
black wolf, Canis lycaon ; the fox, Canis vulpes. In this way, 
each animal is capable of being clearly and accurately desig- 
nated, by a name less liable to mistake and confusion than its 



42 STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS, ETC. 

common one, which is sometimes apolied to several different 
species. This is called the scientific or systematic name. 

But beside this natural and obvious division into genera and 
species, many others have been constituted, arranging the genera 
into a variety of groups, according to principles of classification 
which have been founded more or less on anatomical considera- 
tions, and have varied from time to time with the progress of 
knowledge. 



In the late work of Professor Agassiz upon the Zoology of the 
United States, a different view from that commonly entertained 
is presented, and copiously illustrated. According to him, none 
of the divisions of natural objects are arbitrary, but strictly 
founded in nature, and are parts of the plan of the creation 
as it existed in the mind of its Designer. 

The following are the divisions according to which he would 
thus arrange all the subjects of the animal kingdom. 

1. Branch ; founded upon differences in the plan upon which 
animals are constructed ; of which there are four, Vertebrata, 
Articulata, Mollusca, Radiata. 

2. Class. Each Branch is divided into classes, according to 
the mode in which the plan is carried out. Thus the general 
plan of vertebrated animals is the same in all, but is carried out 
in different ways in Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, and Fish. 

3. Order. This is constituted according to the degrees of 
complication in the execution of the plan. 

4. Family. By the form of animals, as far as determined 
by structure. 

5. Genus. By the details of the execution in special parts. 

6. Species. By the relations of individuals to one another, 
and to the world in which they live, as well as by the proportions 
of their parts, their ornamentation, &c. 



GENERAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 43 



CHAPTER V. 



GENERAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



3. Mollusca. 

4. Radiata. 

Fig. 6. 



In order to convey to the student an intelligible view of the 
great plan according to which the Creator has distributed animal 
life over the surface of our earth, it will be necessary to present 
such a sketch of the subdivisions of the animal kingdom as the 
amount of information of the general reader will enable him to 
comprehend. 

In the first place, the whole animal kingdom is arranged under 
four grand divisions, branches, or sub-kingdoms, according to the 
plan upon which different animals are constructed. Thus the 
monkey is constructed upon one plan ; the bee upon another 
plan ; the oyster upon another ; and the starfish upon another. 
There are, then, the following grand divisions : 

1. Vertebrata. 

2. Articulata. 
These are each, again, subdi- 
vided into classes, according to 
the mode in which the plan is 
carried out. Thus among the 
Vertebrata ; in quadrupeds, the 
plan is carried out in one way ; 
in another way in Birds; in 
another in Reptiles ; and in an- 
other in Fishes. 

Each class is again subdi- 
vided into orders, families, gen- 
era, and species, in the arrange- 
ment of which regard is had to 
more particular details of struc- 
ture and form. 

I. The Vertebrata, Ver- 
tebral animals, of which man is 
the representative and the most 




44 GENERAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

perfect specimen, are formed after his model, varied according 
to the conditions of existence for which they are intended. They 
have all a vertebral column which is the basis of an internal 
bony skeleton ; a nervous system comprising a brain contained in 
a cranium and a spinal nerve inclosed in the vertebral column, 
from which the nerves are distributed to the whole body ; five 
senses ; four extremities, or parts corresponding to them ; two 
jaws moving vertically ; and a heart circulating red blood. 
Among them are terrestrial, aerial, aquatic, and amphibious ani- 
mals. Some of them breathe only air ; and some breathe it 
through the medium of water. Man, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, 
fishes, are representatives of this branch. 

II. The Articulata, Articulated animals, so called because 
their bodies are composed of a succession of segments, rings, or 
joints, which are movable upon each other. They have no in- 
ternal skeleton, but, instead, an external case or envelope, firm 
and solid as bone in some, soft and yielding in others. To the 
internal surface of this the muscles are attached, and it thus 
forms the basis of the motions of the animal, and takes the place 
of the bones of the Vertebrata. They have a head, but no 
proper brain. The nervous system consists of a knotted cord, 
differently developed in different cases. They have the senses 
of sight, touch, and taste ; and many of them probably those of 
hearing and smelling, though their organs are not obvious. Some 
of them have no legs, but, if any, never less than six, and often 
many more. Their bodies are symmetrically arranged, — i. e. 
the two sides correspond to each other. Some of them are 
winged insects ; others inhabit the water, as the leech ; and 
others crawl in or upon the earth, as the centipede and worms. 

Fig. 7. 




Articulata. Centipede. 



III. The Mollusc a, soft-bodied animals, derive their name 
from the peculiar structure of their bodies, which are destitute 



GENERAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 45 



of any proper bony framework, within or without. Many of 
them, however, as shell-fish, have an external shell as a means 
of defence, but it does not form the point of support to the mus- 
cular system, like the bones of Yertebrata and the external en- 
velope of Articulata. The functions of sensation and locomotion 
are, with some exceptions, of a low order, whilst those of diges- 
tion, circulation, and respiration are highly developed. Cuttle- 
fish, squid, cockle, snail, oyster, clam, quahaug. 

Fig. 8. 




Mollusca. Oyster. 
v, one of the yalves of the shell; vK its hinge; mm, lobes of the mantle, one of which 
is folded back; c/, muscles of the shell ; br, gills; b, mouth; J, tentacula; /, liver ; i, in- 
testine ; a, anus ; co, heart. 

IV. The Radiata are so called from the circular arrange- 

Fig. 9. 




Radiata. Sea-anemone. 
A, represents the animal as seen from above. In the centre is the mouth surrounded 
by tentacula with which its food is seized and conveyed into it. B, a section exhibiting 
its internal organs, a, cavity of stomach, which is surrounded by b, a series of cham- 
bers, in which the germs of the young are developed. 



46 - VEETEBRAL ANIMALS. 

ment of their organs around a central spot, at which the mouth 
is situated. The animals of this division are commonly denom- 
inated Zoophytes. The organs of sensation, of locomotion, of 
circulation, of respiration, and the nervous system, are very im- 
perfectly developed, and cannot be always detected, and in many 
of the lower tribes scarce any trace of organization is to be dis- 
covered. Starfish, sea-anemone, polypes, sunfish, coral animals, 
infusoria. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIRST BRANCH. — VERTEBRATA OR VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

These are divided into four classes : * 

1. Mammalia or Mammals. 3. Reptiles. 

2. Birds. 4. Fishes. 

The first two classes are distinguished by having a fixed tem- 
perature above the ordinary temperature of the medium in which 
they live. The last two by having a temperature varying but 
little from that of such medium. Hence the former are called 
warm-blooded, and the latter cold-blooded. 

Of the warm-blooded animals, those of the first class produce 
their young alive, and nourish them during infancy by their 
own milk, secreted by organs called mammoz or breasts. Hence 
their name. This includes man, quadrupeds, seals, whales. 
Those of the second class, or Birds, produce their young by 
means of eggs, hatched usually by the heat of their own bodies, 
and support them by food, which they provide for them as soon 
as they come out of the egg. These two classes resemble each 
other also in the general structure of the organs of respiration 
and circulation. 

* A different disposition of the classes of Vertebral animals has been sug- 
gested, increasing their number to nine or ten, by a subdivision of those of 
Reptiles and Fishes. Doubtless there may be sufficient grounds for this new 
arrangement, but they are such as can only be intelligible to well-instructed 
naturalists, and it has seemed preferable, therefore, to adhere to the old and 
generally understood divisions. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 47 

The first of the classes of cold-blooded animals, Reptiles, con- 
tains those which breathe air only and cannot exist without it, as 
lizards, frogs, tortoises, serpents ; the second, or Fishes, those 
which receive the air through the medium of water by means of 
branchiae or gills. 

SECTION I. 

CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 

Of the structure of man, the most perfect example of this 
class, an account has already been given, and we shall get the 
most intelligible idea of that of the other Mammalia by tracing 
the degree and manner in which they depart from him. 

We have already adverted to the manner in which the struc- 
ture of man is modified in the formation of the monkey tribe, 
p. 33, (Fig. 6.) The locomotion of these animals is chiefiy that 
of climbing. On level ground they scramble along rapidly 
enough, but clumsily and imperfectly, whilst among the branches 
of trees they make their way with astonishing ease and rapidity. 
This is owing partly to the presence of hands upon all four of 
their extremities, but quite as much to the different distribution 
of force between the upper and the lower limbs. Man is com- 
paratively a poor climber. His chief strength is in his legs. It 
is with difficulty that he raises his body with his arms. The 
monkey's greatest strength is in his arms, and the advantage 
which this gives him in climbing will be seen at once. 

Fig. 10. 




Panther. 



We trace a farther departure from the human standard in the 



48 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



Fig. 11. 



proper carnivorous animals, like the cat tribe, and in the gnawing 
tribe, like the squirrel. These, although differing from each other 
in so many particulars, are yet somewhat alike in the manner in 
which they differ from man. The fore limbs are brought nearer 
together and are directed forward ; the chest is narrow, especially 
at its upper part ; and the shoulder and arms have much less free- 
dom and variety of motion. The fingers are not separate, but 
enveloped and confined by the skin; there is no thumb, and 
claws are substituted for nails. The wrist and heel are removed 
farther from the fingers, and, as a consequence, motion, which is 
wholly on the four extremities, is performed upon the ends of the 

fingers and toes instead of the 
hand and foot. Hence the arm 
and thigh are both shorter ; 
and the elbow, or the joint cor- 
responding to the elbow, and 
the knee, are carried up toward 
the body. The fore limbs are 
still, however, capable of per- 
forming some of the offices of 
hands, as we see in the com- 
mon cat, and more especially 
in the squirrel. The panther 
and jerboa are also examples 
Jerboa, of the same structure. 

Still considerable freedom of motion remains. Many of these 
animals use their fore paws as hands with some dexterity, and 
are excellent climbers, as the squirrels, though they have not the 
power of grasping which distinguishes the monkeys. Some of 
them naturally, and others by force of education, are capable of 
assuming the erect posture, by throwing themselves backward 
upon their heels and bending the knee and hip joints at very 
acute angles. 

All the animals of these tribes are not constructed alike ; for, 
whilst there are some not far removed from the monkeys in their 
structure and capacity for motion, others approach to the more 
complete quadrupeds. 

As familiar examples of these last, namely, the complete quad- 




VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



49 



rupeds, we may take the ruminating and the single hoofed ani- 
mals, the camel, (fig. 12,) the ox, and the horse. In these the chest 
is still more contracted, — the arms or fore legs are brought more 
closely together, — all freedom of motion in the shoulder joint is 
lost ; — the bones of the fingers are united into a solid mass, and 
form a round limb, terminated by one or more hoofs. The same 
takes place in the hind limb. The heel is further raised from the 
ground, and the animal can no longer throw himself back upon 
it, but, as in a horse that rears, always supports himself on the 
ends of the toes. 

Fig. 12. 

ql 




Skeleton of Camel. 

In this figure the single line drawn around the skeleton indicates the Outline of the 
living animal ; vc, the vertebrae of the neck ; vd, of the back ; vl, of the loins ; vs< of 
the sacrum; vq, of the tail ; c, the ribs ; o, shoulder-blade or scapula ; h, arm ; cm, fore- 
arm, a single bone corresponding to the two bones between the elbow and wrist in man. — 
between these two bones is the joint corresponding to the elbow ; m, bones of the wrist ; 
me, of the hand ; ph, of the fingers ; fe, of the thigh ; ro, of the knee ; ti, of the leg, 
in place of two in man ; ta, of the ankle ; mt, toes. 

By a comparison of this skeleton with that of man (p. 23) and with the account of 
the gradual transition of form which takes place from the structure of man to that of 
the complete quadruped, a conception will be obtained of the changes there referred to. 



We have noticed only the stronger distinctions of formation. 
In every case there are species lying between, in which a gradual 



50 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS!" 



transition of structure may be traced. To notice them, would 
lead to a too minute detail. 

These variations are all connected with the kinds of motion 
required by the necessities of the animals in which they are 
found. There are others in which a greater departure, from 
the residence and habits of man requires a still greater departure 
from his structure. Some Mammalia, as the bats, are intended to 
move in air ; — others, as the seals and whales, in water. 

It would have been difficult to imagine how the same funda- 
mental structure, which, by no essential modification of plan, has 
been transformed from a man to an ox, could, without greater 
violence to the plan, be converted into a bat. But this is exactly 
what has been done. Examine the skeleton of this animal, and 
you find it is essentially built like that of man. The parts are 
the same ; — the proportions only are altered. It is chiefly to be 
observed, that all four of its limbs are put in requisition for the 
purpose of flying ; just as in monkeys for climbing, and in quad- 
rupeds for walking and running ; the fore limbs being reserved 

Fig. 13. 




Skeleton of Bat. 

cZ, clavicle; h y humerus; cm, ulna; r, radius; ca, carpus, or wrist; po, thumb; mc, 
metacarpus; ph, fingers; o, scapula; /, thigh; ti, leg. 

By continuing the comparison with the human skeleton, the points in which that of the 
bat at once differs and corresponds will be easily perceived. The most noteworthy varia- 
tion is that which has been effected in the arm and hand. * The bone between the elbow 
arid hand is prolonged to a considerable, and those of the fingers to a very great extent, 
and are spread out like the sticks of an umbrella, so as to give support to the membrane of 
the wings, whilst those of the arm and shoulder are larger and stronger. If, especially, 
the relative development of the upper and lower extremities be contrasted with that of 
man, it will clearly appear how singularly these parts have been modified in order to ac- 
commodate them to the purposes of flight. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 51 

exclusively for higher purposes in man alone. It is also to be 
remarked, that in bats the faculty of flying is conferred upon 
them at a great sacrifice. It flies, in fact, at the expense of the 
powers of running, walking, and handling objects, in all which it is 
deficient. This is because raising a body and carrying it through 
the air requires so^much more power than to carry it upon the 
surface of the earth that it is only by a concentration of its 
whole muscular force that it has been accomplished. 

This might have afforded a lesson to those among our own spe- 
cies who have sometimes sought to invent wings by which to move 
through the air. These they have attached to the upper extremities. 
It is obvious that, as Nature has only been able to make one of the 
Mammalia fly by devoting nearly its whole muscular power to the 
object, if man is ever to accomplish this purpose it must be by an 
imitation of Nature in this particular. It is probable that the 
muscular power of man is as great in proportion to his weight 
as that of the bat. Could an apparatus, therefore, be contrived 
by which the whole muscular power of the body and limbs was 
brought to bear upon wings properly constructed, it is not im- 
possible that the flight of bats might be imperfectly imitated. 

There are other animals among the Mammalia that exhibit a 
similar structure in a less marked degree, as the flying lemur, flying 
squirrel of our own country, and the flying opossum of Australia, 
but these may be passed over, and we come to those in which the 
construction deviates from that of man in an opposite direction, 
being intended to enable them to live and move in and upon the 
water. They are of two kinds, — the amphibious, as the seal, the 
morse, the dugong, capable of moving both on land and water ; and 
the cetaceous, as the whale, dolphin, and porpoise in the water 
alone. The amphibia retain 
the four limbs, the bones of 
which are constructed like 
those of quadrupeds, but 
they are short and envel- 
oped by flesh and skin, 
whilst a membrane or web 
connects the fingers to- 
gether to adapt them for 



Fig. 14. 




52 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



swimming. The cetaceous animals are still farther removed 
from man in structure, the pelvis and hind limbs being want- 



Fig. 15. 




ing and their place sup- 
plied by a form of the 
parts in some measure 
approaching that of a fish 
and terminated by a fin 
or oar, which is, however, 
horizontal, instead of ver- 
tical as in fishes. 



Fig. 16. 



Cetaceous animals are sometimes popularly confounded with 
true fishes. They differ, however, in essential particulars. They 
are warm-blooded ; they are viviparous and suckle their young ; 
they breathe air ; their organs of circulation, respiration, and 
digestion, are like those of the other Mammalia. They are to 
be regarded as inhabitants of the surface of the water, rather 
than, like fishes, as inhabitants of its depths. 

Beside these general 
modifications of structure 
which characterize certain 
large divisions of this class, 
there are others more lim^ 
ited in their extent, but 
equally illustrative of the 
relation of structure to 
purpose, and of the struc- 
ture of different parts to 
each other. 

There is a striking dis- 
proportion between the an- 
terior and posterior extrem- 
ities of many animals, as 
compared with the average 
standard of the class. In 
the camelopard, or giraffe, 
the head is elevated to a 
height of eighteen feet, by 

Camelopard. 




VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



05 



the length of the neck, the shoulders, and the fore legs, the hind 
parts being only about half as high. It is thus the most lofty of 
quadrupeds, and is adapted to feed, as it does almost exclusively, 
upon the tender leaves of trees. In other animals we find a 
similar disproportion in the hinder parts of the body, which qual- 
ifies them for different motions and a different mode of life, — as 
in the jerboa and the kangaroo. In these the hind limbs are 
many times longer and stronger than the fore limbs, enabling 
them to advance by enormous leaps, whilst they can scarcely 
walk or run at all. 



Fig. 17. 










Kangaroo. 



In the lion and other animals of similar habits, the neck is 
short and strong, with great strength in the shoulders and fore 
legs. These correspond to their powerful head and jaws, and 
qualify them for seizing and bearing away their prey. Were 
the neck like that of the horse, it would be impossible to furnish 
it with muscles strong enough to lift their large head and the prey 
which they have seized, at the end of so long a lever, without in- 



54 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

creasing the size to absolute monstrosity. But in the horse the 
head is small and light ; his food requires no power to raise it, but 
being intended for rapid motion, and having therefore long legs, 
he needs a long neck to reach the herbage on which he feeds. 
He is not intended to use his head or mouth for the purpose of 
defence, but trusts for safety to a rapid flight, and repels his 
enemies with his heels. Compare him in these particulars with 
the bull, whose instruments for defence are planted on his* head. 
His neck must necessarily be shorter and stronger. But as his 
food is also herbage, the fore legs are short, or he could not reach 
the earth. These variations all follow from the design of crea- 
tion and the necessary harmony of structure. In the one case, 
we have an animal, fleet, with long legs, a long neck, and small 
head, who flies from his enemies, and, when approached, defends 
himself with his heels. In the other, we have another with a 
large head, a thick, short, sturdy neck and chest, short legs, not 
so well fitted for rapid motion, but w^ell adapted for powerful re- 
sistance or attack with his head and horns. 

In this way we may trace the connection of each peculiarity of 
formation with some use for which the parts are designed. With 
legs of a moderate length, the neck of the camel is long, for he is 
to seek his food on the ground ; but it is slender because his head 
is small, the nature of his food not requiring a large one. With 
a head equally small, the neck of the giraffe is long, and raised 
upon shoulders of great height, because he is to seek his food 
above. The elephant has a very thick, short neck, on account 
of the immense weight of his head. His head is large because 
he must have great strength of bone to give support to his heavy 
tusks ; his tusks are necessary as means of defence, and to aid 
him in procuring his food, which consists frequently of the 
branches of young trees. But with his large head, his short 
neck, and his long tusks, he cannot reach the ground ; — he could 
neither eat nor drink, — he would starve in the midst of plenty 
but for his long trunk, which conveys water, and the food his 
tusks have gathered, into his mouth. Such a contrivance was 
absolutely demanded by the rest of his structure, and a similar 
necessity implies a similar provision in the mastodon, the great 
extinct animal of America. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 55 

Such are a few examples of the adaptation of structure to 
purpose, and the harmony which exists among the different parts 
of the same animal. Still there are a vast many peculiarities 
of which we cannot perceive the object ; nor can we understand 
the design of differences among those species whose food, habits, 
and mode of life are apparently alike. Yet we may reasonably 
conclude that such differences are not without a purpose, because 
wherever we get at all the facts of the case we perceive such a 
purpose. Nor is it any objection to this view, that animals so 
often depart from the mode of life and the kind of food which is 
natural to them. There is in all a certain power of accommoda- 
tion to external circumstances without permanent injury. It is 
no proof that the dog is not a carnivorous animal, that it can be 
brought to thrive on a vegetable diet ; no proof that horns are 
useless to the ox, because there is a variety without them, any 
more than that our hands are useless, because some men can 
effect the same purposes with the mouth or the feet. In those 
laws of structure which relate to the essential functions of animal 
life, respiration, circulation, &c, such variations do not exist ; in 
secondary provisions a great latitude and power of accommoda- 
tion are observed. These secondary provisions are made, not for 
purposes absolutely essential, but for the comfort, convenience, or 
even the luxury of animal existence. To argue in any case 
that a provision is without an object, because it sometimes fails 
of that object, or because the same is sometimes accomplished 
without it, is a mode of reasoning forbidden by the whole analogy 
of Nature. 

The division of the Mammalia into orders is founded upon 
considerations of this nature. The structure of an animal being 
found to correspond to its character, mode of life, and kind of 
f«>od, those which have a similar structure will of course resem- 
ble each other to a certain extent in other particulars. From the 
formation of the extremities of an animal, particularly the an- 
terior, we can judge of the degree of address of which he is 
capable, and of the kind of motions he is able to perform ; and 
from the structure of his teeth, what is the nature of his food. 
Thus, the fore feet of animals may be either enveloped in hoofs, 
like those of the horse and the ox ; armed with claws, like those 



56 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

of the lion ; or furnished with slender nails, like those of man and 
the ape ; and the perfection of the sense of touch will be in pro- 
portion to the delicacy of these organs respectively. Thus, too, 
there are three kinds of teeth : the incisory or cutting teeth ; the 
canine or dog teeth; and the molar or grinding teeth; but all 
animals have not each of these kinds of teeth, nor are they in all 
of the same shape and formation. The molar teeth, for instance, 
in the carnivorous animals, are sharp and fit only for the cutting 
of flesh. In the herbivorous, they are broad, with surfaces adapted 
for grinding grain or the fibres of vegetables, which require 
more mastication than flesh, before they are capable of being di- 
gested. 

The most intelligible arrangement of the Mammalia divides 
them into the following orders : 

I. The Rimana, or Two-handed animals. Man is the only 
example of this order. He has hands upon his upper extrem- 
ities alone. He has nails of a thin and delicate texture, which 
give to his thumb and fingers a wonderful delicacy of touch. 

II. The Quadrumana, or Four-handed animals, comprising 
apes, monkeys, and baboons. They have hands upon all four 
of their extremities, but less perfect than those of man. 

III. The Carnivora, or Carnivorous animals. These have no 
hands, but their feet are furnished with claws. This is a very 
extensive order, and embraces a great variety of animals. 

These three orders have all the three kinds of teeth, which 
differ, however, in shape and strength, according to the habits 
and food of the different species. 

IV. The Rodentia, or Gnawers ; so called from the structure 
of their fore teeth, which are particularly adapted for gnawing. 
They have no canine teeth ; and their claws somewhat resemble 
those of the Carnivora. This order contains rats, squirrels, rab- 
bits, &c. 

Y. The Edentata, or Toothless animals ; so called because they 
are deficient always in the incisive teeth, and sometimes have no 
teeth at all. Their toes are terminated by large and crooked 
nails, which obstruct both their sensations and motions. The 
sloth and armadillo are in this order. 

VI. The Ruminantia, or Ruminating animals, are those which 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 57 

chew the cud. They are cloven-footed, and have, usually, no 
incisive teeth in the upper jaw. Among these are the ox, camel, 
llama, stag, and antelope. 

VII. The Pachydermata, or Thick-skinned animals. This order 
includes a considerable variety of other animals with hoofs, but 
which do not ruminate ; as the horse, the wild boar, the hog, the 
tapir, and the elephant. 

VIII. The Cetacea, or animals of the Whale kind, distinguished 
by having no posterior extremities, and their anterior so con- 
structed as to answer the purpose of fins. In this order are 
whales, porpoises, and dolphins. 

To these may be added two other orders, which differ from the 
preceding in certain particulars relative to the production and 
care of their young ; in these they approach somewhat to the 
characteristics of birds. 

IX. The Marsupialia, Marsupial animals, distinguished by the 
possession in the female of a bag or pouch on the outside of the 
abdomen, supported by two supernumerary bones, called the 
marsupial bones, for the purpose of holding their young after 
birth. Kangaroo and opossum. 

X. Monotremata ; animals having but a single posterior out- 
let from the ' body, in which they resemble birds. This order 
contains but a small number of species. They are truly ovo- 
viviparous, that is, the young are produced from an egg which 
is hatched within the body of the mother, and derive no other 
sustenance from her before birth. Ornithorhynchus and Echidna 
or Porcupine Anteater. 

We proceed to give some further account of these different 
orders of the Mammalia. 

I. Bimana. Some writers have believed that man was orig- 
inally intended to be a quadruped ; and that he has learned only 
from long experience the mode of walking erect, and of applying 
his hands to the purposes for which he now employs them. They 
have represented him as only a more perfect kind of ape ; and in 
support of this opinion relate stories of wild men, who have been 
found living like beasts in the midst of forests, destitute of speech 
and the arts of life ; and of races of apes and monkeys who can 
walk erect, and imitate the manners, gestures, and mode of life of 
3* 



58 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

men ; thus endeavoring to prove a near connection and relation- 
ship between man and these animals. 

It is undoubtedly the case, that man, in his external form, re- 
sembles this order of animals much more nearly than any other ; 
but he is yet by no means more nearly allied to them in this 
respect, than they are to some others, which are yet always con- 
sidered as clearly distinct. The fact is, that since the animal 
kingdom forms a series of individuals rising, by a regular grada- 
tion, from a very humble and imperfect structure, up to a very 
perfect one, there will necessarily be certain points of resemblance 
between those which stand nearest to each other in this series. 
Hence the apes, which stand nearest to man, resemble him more 
than any other animal does, but not so much as many other ani- 
mals resemble them. There is a greater difference between man 
and those species which are next below him, than there is be- 
tween any other two species w r hich rank next to each other in 
the whole animal kingdom. So that there is, in truth, no more 
reason for saying that man is only an improved and educated 
ape, than there is for saying that a bee is only an improved and 
educated fly, a cow an improved sheep, or a horse a perfected ass. 

Man is distinguished from all other animals of the class 
Mammalia, by his erect attitude, and his power of walking upon 
two legs. This is naturally the case with no other. Some are 
capable of being taught to walk upon their hind legs ; but they 
never do it with ease or from choice. The ape and monkey 
have, it is true, hands, very like those of the human species, which 
they are capable of using w r ith great address and effect ; but 
then they have not feet or legs which enable them to walk up- 
right : their feet are, in fact, formed like hands, having a palm, 
and a distinct thumb, opposed to the four fingers, and thus are 
able to grasp objects. The foot of man is very different. It 
has nothing which does the office of a thumb, and the sole does 
not perform that of a palm. It is flat, inflexible, and fit only 
for the purpose of walking. Apes, on the contrary, are adapted 
for climbing ; and hence the peculiarity of their structure, which 
enables them to grasp the small branches of trees with their feet 
as well as their hands. Strictly speaking, then, these tribes are 
principally distinguished from man by having four hands instead 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 59 

of two ; and hence man is called a two-handed or bimanous animal ; 
and apes, monkeys, and baboons, four-handed or quadrumanous 
animals. This alone would be a sufficient distinction ; but there 
are many others founded upon a variety of considerations, derived 
from the general structure of man. His head is larger and his 
face smaller, in proportion to his size, than those of the monkey. 
His eyes, his ears, in short, all his senses, are adapted to the 
erect position. He is incapable of going upon all fours with any 
facility, his lower extremities being so long as to render the pos- 
ture of his head painful and even dangerous. 

The structure of man, and his faculties of mind, give him 
great advantages over other animals in point of adroitness, skill, 
and address. His erect position gives him the free use of his 
hands, which, though they have a general similarity to those of 
the monkey, are yet far more delicately and perfectly constructed. 
The thumb is larger ; the fingers have distinct motions ; the nails 
present excellent points of support, so as to admit of the handling 
of very small bodies ; and the arms have unencumbered and 
various motions in every direction. Still he is inferior, in point 
of strength, to most animals of his size : he is slow in running, is 
without natural means of defence, and has almost no natural 
covering. So that man, who, in the social state, is the lord of 
the lower world, the conqueror of the rest of creation, is, by na- 
ture and when alone, the weakest, the most helpless, and the most 
defenceless of all animals in proportion to his size. 

There are 'several distinct races of mankind inhabiting dif- 
ferent portions of the earth, which differ one from another more 
or less in form, in features, in complexion, and in character. The 
causes of these varieties have never been satisfactorily pointed out. 
They have been attributed to climate, to situation, to manner of 
life ; but none of these circumstances appear sufficient to produce 
them, and we therefore still remain in ignorance on the subject. 
Five distinct races are usually enumerated. 1. The Caucasian. 
2. The Mongolian or Tartar. 3. The American. 4. The Negro 
or African. 5. The Malay. 

1. The Caucasian. The individuals of this variety are dis- 
tinguished by the beautiful oval form of their heads ; a large and 
full forehead ; regular and distinct features ; by a face which is 



60 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

small and narrow in proportion to the cranium ; a white skin, 
varying from a light rosy tint to a deep brown ; and hair and 
eyes of various colors. This race is called Caucasian, because 
its origin is referred, by tradition, to the group of mountains 
lying between the Black and Caspian seas, among which Cau- 
casus has been most generally known. From thence it has 
spread itself over a considerable part of the known world. The 
inhabitants of Caucasus itself, the Georgians and Circassians, are 
to this day regarded as the most beautiful specimens of the human 
form. In the ancient world, the most celebrated nations belonged 
to this race. The Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, the 
Jews, probably the Egyptians, the Persians, the Scythians, the 
Parthians, the Greeks, the Romans, we're of Caucasian origin. 
In modern times, nearly all the nations that inhabit the western 
part of Asia, nearly all the nations of Europe, and the descend- 
ants of Europeans in America and other parts* of the world, are 
of the same race. 

They have been always distinguished for superior intellectual 
and moral qualities. With a few exceptions, they have main- 
tained a decided ascendency in arms over the people of the other 
races, and have acquired a superiority in the elegances, refine- 
ments, and luxuries of life. They have been for ages the chief 
depositaries of literature, philosophy, science, and the arts, and 
have carried the human character to the highest degree of excel- 
lence it has ever reached. 

2. The Mongolian race is principally found in the eastern 
parts of Asia. It is distinguished by a low stature, by projecting 
cheek bones ; a depressed and retreating forehead ; features not 
strongly marked ; eyes narrow and oblique ; a nose somewhat 
broad and flat ; thick lips ; black, straight hair ; thin beard ; and 
an olive complexion. In this division are to be arranged the 
inhabitants of India, of the great empires of China and Japan ; 
the hordes of Calmucks and of Mongols ; the ancient Huns ; the 
Finnish tribes of Northern Europe, as the Laplanders; the 
Kamtschadales ; the Esquimaux Indians inhabiting the northern 
parts of America ; and a number of other nations and tribes of 
less note. 

The individuals of this race are inferior in moral and intel- 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 61 

lectual qualities to those of the preceding. For the most part 
they have made but slight progress in civilization, the arts, litera- 
ture, or science, and have remained in a semi-barbarous state. 
There have been, it is true, some remarkable exceptions, as in the 
Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Empires, where, in some partic- 
ulars, great advances have been made ; still all their efforts have 
partaken of peculiar characteristics, and have evidently pro- 
ceeded from a distinct and inferior race. Occasionally they have 
manifested great vigor and energy in military exploits ; and three 
times have carried the terror of their arms over the greater part 
of Asia, and even into Europe, under Attila, Genghis Khan, and 
Tamerlane. Their ascendancy has, however, generally been of 
short duration, as they have not the qualities suited to retain and 
govern the empires they conquer. 

3. The African, or Negro, is remarkable for his narrow and 
depressed forehead ; flat and broad nose ; thick lips ; projecting 
jaws ; black, crisped, and curled hair or wool ; black skin and 
eyes ; and some other differences in bodily shape, which it is not 
necessary to enumerate. These characteristics are confined to 
the inhabitants of some parts of Africa, and their descendants in 
different parts of the world. The individuals belonging to this 
race have seldom been distinguished for their mental faculties or 
moral endowments. They have remained in a barbarous state, 
and are with difficulty induced to adopt the customs and habits 
of civilized life. 

4. The American race resembles, in some respects, the 
Mongolian; but differs from it in having more distinct and 
strongly-marked features, and a skin of a copper tint. All the 
native inhabitants of the New World, with the exception of the 
Esquimaux, come into this division. In general, they have made 
small advances in civilization and the arts, and prefer the wan- 
dering life of hunters to the comforts of settled habitations. In 
the empires of Mexico and Peru, was exhibited the highest pitch 
of refinement to which they have ever arrived. 

5. In the division called the Malay, are included nations differ- 
ing very much one from another, in form, features, and character, 
and too imperfectly known to admit of being clearly described. 
Some of them, as the inhabitants of New Holland and Van 



62 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

Diemen's Land, resemble the African race ; whilst others, as the 
inhabitants of Malacca and Sumatra, and also those of the islands 
in the Pacific Ocean, approach sometimes the Caucasian, and 
sometimes the Mongolian. 

This arrangement of the races of mankind is still generally 
received, and is that to which reference is chiefly made by writers 
on the Natural History of man. Recent more accurate and 
extended observations, however, render it probable that it may 
become necessary hereafter to modify and enlarge it. 

An eminent American Naturalist, Mr. Pickering, as the result 
of ample investigations of his own, has proposed the following 
division into eleven races. 

1. The Arabian or Caucasian. 

2. The Abyssinian, inhabiting Abyssinia and a part of Nubia. 

3. The Mongolian, including, beside the countries mentioned 
above, the greater part of the American continent. 

4. The Hottentot, in the southern extremity of Africa. 

5. The Malay, occupying the greater part of the islands of 
the Pacific Ocean, and some portions of America and of the 
island of Madagascar. 

6. The Papuan, the Fiji Islands and a part of Papua. 

7. The Negrillo, another part of Papua, Soloman Isles, and 
parts of Luzon, Sumatra, and the New Hebrides. 

8. The Telingan, parts of India and Madagascar. 

9. The Ethiopian, the northeastern portion of Africa. 

10. The Australian, occupying Australia. 

11. The true Negro, in the central parts of Africa. 

But notwithstanding all these differences in man, he main- 
tains everywhere a decided rank, far above that of any other 
animal. He is the only one that has the power of communicat- 
ing thoughts and feelings by articulate speech ; the only one that 
can properly be said to avail itself of the advantages of society ; 
and the only one that, strictly speaking, educates its young. It 
is in consequence of these advantages, particularly that derived 
from association, that he has been enabled, under all circum- 
stances, to acquire and preserve a dominion over other animals, 
either by subjecting them to his use, or at least making himself 
the object of their fear. It is in consequence of these ad van- 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 63 

tages, also, that he has been enabled to protect himself against the 
severity of climate, and thus spread his species over every part 
of the earth. Tender and defenceless, by nature, he could only 
exist in the most equable and temperate climates ; but, aided by 
the inventions and discoveries of social life, he is enabled to brave 
the cold of the polar circle, as well as the overpowering heat of 
the regions on the equator. 

Man is but slightly governed by instinct. His knowledge is 
chiefly the result of education and experience. He knows little 
but what he has discovered himself, or what has been taught him 
by others. By means of language and writing, the discoveries and 
improvements of one generation are transmitted to the next, and 
thus are the ground of an almost indefinite progress. Other 
animals, being principally governed by instinct, are stationary ; 
they neither advance nor recede in their habits or capacities ; 
they do not improve by being associated together ; and, al- 
though capable of being educated by man, they do not educate 
one another. The first swarm of bees that existed probably 
constructed as perfect a honey-comb as is made now : they do not 
improve upon the plan which instinct has pointed out to them ; it 
is a plan which they did not in the first place contrive, and can- 
not amend. . But if we compare the rude and ill-constructed 
habitations of savage nations with the splendid and luxurious 
edifices of civilized life, we instantly perceive the influence which 
language, society, and education have had upon the human race 
We are sensible of the great difference between that skill which 
is the result of instinct, and that which is acquired by a being 
capable of reasoning and speaking. 

Being thus susceptible of constant progress, man is found 
under different circumstances in different stages of this progress. 
In his primitive state, he supports himself upon the flesh of 
animals, which he destroys in the chase, or upon fruits and roots. 
He has not, therefore, time to devote to the cultivation of the arts, 
or to the education of his children ; he learns nothing but how to 
construct his hut, his canoe, and the implements of fishing and 
hunting ; he clothes himself with the skins of wild beasts ; and he 
observes the natural objects around him so far only as he can 
make them subservient to his purposes. When he comes into 



64 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

possession of the domestic animals, the cow, the horse, the sheep, 
&c, he finds that he can derive an easier and less precarious sub- 
sistence from their milk and flesh than from the products of the 
chase. He rears, therefore, numerous herds of these animals, and 
being only occupied in finding them pasturage and shelter, is com- 
paratively at leisure to apply himself to some of the arts of civil- 
ized life. He manufactures clothing from their skins and wool, 
of various degrees of delicacy and elegance. He builds himself 
more commodious habitations ; and from the different degrees 
of industry and skill, with which different individuals apply 
themselves to these occupations, arises an inequality of condition. 
Some become rich, and others comparatively poor. The rich 
acquire a disposition to indulge in the comforts and luxuries of 
life, and this is found to be inconsistent with the wandering and 
unsettled life which they lead as mere shepherds. Hence they 
are induced to fix themselves permanently upon particular tracts 
of country, which come to be considered as their property ; and 
thus they gradually devote themselves to the cultivation of the 
soil. This enables a given portion of land to support a greater 
number of people, than when devoted to the feeding of herds ; 
and, hence, as agriculture becomes established, the population of 
a country increases. Society also becomes settled and perma- 
nent. Every individual is able to produce more by his own 
labor, than is sufficient for his own support, and some therefore 
devote themselves to other occupations, the results of which they 
exchange with the laborer for his surplus. Nations also exchange 
with one another their superfluities. Thus commerce is estab- 
lished ; and the arts and elegances of life are one by one brought 
to light, as the growing wealth of individuals and nations creates 
a demand for them. 

II. The Quadrumana, as has been before observed, approach 
more nearly to man, both in their internal structure and external 
form, than any other animals. They differ, however, in the size 
and shape of the head, which is proportionably smaller, narrower, 
and less elevated ; in the conformation of the face, which has a 
flat, depressed nose, and very prominent jaws and teeth ; in the 
length of the arms ; and in the construction of the lower ex- 
tremities, which are not calculated for the erect posture, and are 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 65 

furnished with hands, instead of feet like those of men. Their 
structure fits them evidently for climbing, and their usual places 
of habitation are trees, on the fruits of which they feed. They 
maintain the erect position with difficulty ; it is a constrained one, 
since it obliges them to straighten the joints of the hip more than 
is easy or natural, and to rest their weight upon the outer edges 
of their feet or hind hands. Generally, then, they employ all 
four of their limbs in walking or running ; but their motions, 
when upon the ground, are very various and irregular. 

They form a numerous tribe, and comprehend a great variety 
of species, known under the name of apes, monkeys, and baboons. 
These names are generally employed with little discrimination, 
but they are intended to point out some general differences of 
form. Thus, the apes are destitute of a tail ; that of the monkeys 
is about the length of their bodies ; and that of the baboons a 
very short one. Besides these, which are confined to the old 
continent, the sapajous, including those belonging to the new 
world, have all long tails ; and these are, in many instances, of 
so much strength, as to answer in some measure the purpose of a 
fifth limb, enabling the animal to grasp with it the branches of 
trees or other objects, to assist in climbing. These are called 
prehensile tails. The orang-outang and chimpanzee are the 
most celebrated of this order, for their similarity in face and 
form to the human race ; whilst many other species, by their 
elongated snout, depressed forehead, and other particulars, ap- 
proach more *nearly to other quadrupeds. 

The Orang-outang, or wild man of the woods, which is the 
meaning of the name in the Malay language, is found only in 
some Eastern climates, and has seldom been seen in Europe ; 
although many other animals have been exhibited under this 
name. He is a native of Malacca and Cochin China, but is 
principally found in the great island of Borneo, in the East 
Indies. He is from three to four feet in height; his body 
covered with a thick red hair ; his forehead high and full ; and 
his face of a bluish color. He is mild and docile, is easily tamed, 
and becomes attached to those about him. He is able, in con- 
sequence of his bodily form and organs, to imitate very accu- 
rately a great variety of human actions ; but is, on the whole, 



GG VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

hardly more remarkable for sagacity and intelligence than the 
dog. 

The Chimpanzee (Fig. 6) is a larger animal, and has been 
said by some travellers to equal or exceed the size of man. This, 
however, is not well authenticated. His body is covered with 
black or brown hairs. He can be taught to walk, to sit, and to 
eat like men. He is a native of Congo and Guinea, lives with 
his fellows in troops, and by means of clubs and stones repels the 
attacks of man and other animals. It has been said that he con- 
structs for himself a hut with the foliage and branches of trees ; 
but he probably does little more than provide, in this way, a very 
rude shelter for himself against rain and storms. 

The most remarkable of this order is the Gorilla, inhabiting 
the interior of Africa, and only recently well known and satisfac- 
torily described, although imperfect accounts of him have for a 
long time been more or less current. He is of somewhat less 
than the ordinary height of man, but exceeds him much in bulk 
and in the strength of his limbs. He is indeed a most formidable 
animal, — ferocious and brutal in disposition, possessed of enor- 
mous muscular power in jaws, trunk, and limbs. Though ex- 
clusively living on vegetable food, he is disposed to attack the 
natives whenever he encounters them, and is more than a match 
for several. They hold him in great fear, and can with difficulty 
be persuaded to join in hunting him, even when in company with 
Europeans armed with rifles. He is as dangerous an enemy as the 
larger carnivora ; still he does not stand high in amount of intel- 
ligence. His brain is small, and in these respects he is inferior 
to the Nschiego, inhabiting the same regions. This is a milder 
animal, building himself a rude habitation, and living with his 
mate in an imperfect domestic condition. 

A few of the American monkeys, or Sapajous, are furnished 
with a pouch or bladder connected with the windpipe, which 
gives to their voice an enormous volume and a tremendous tone. 
They are called, from this circumstance, Howler monkeys. 

Some of the smaller and more inoffensive species of the 
Quadrumana are playful, peaceable, and amusing little animals ; 
but in general they are a noisy, chattering, mischievous race, 
whose distorted resemblance to the human face and figure only 
renders them hideous and disgusting. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. G7 

III. Carnivora. This order includes a great number and a 
great variety of animals. They are furnished with the three 
kinds of teeth, but these differ more or less in shape from those 
of man and the monkeys, so as to be adapted for the mastication 
of animal food, upon which they subsist, either in part or alto- 
gether. They are subdivided into several tribes or families, 
as they are more or less carnivorous. In some of these, the 
molars are very sharp and cutting, and thus indicate that the 
animal feeds entirely upon flesh; in others, they are broader, 
being adapted partly for the mastication of vegetable food ; and 
in others, they are armed with a number of points or cones, 
fitted for a diet consisting principally of insects. Their fore legs 
are capable of pretty free and extensive motions, and are fur- 
nished with nails or claws, but no thumb ; whence they are infe- 
rior in manual address to the Quadrumana. They are remark- 
able for possessing the sense of smell to a high degree of perfec- 
tion. Their organs of digestion are in general less complicated 
and extensive than those of other animals. The stomach is 
smaller, and the intestines shorter; animal food requiring less 
change than vegetable in order to convert it into blood. 

1. The first tribe, or family, is that of the Bats. These have 
some points of affinity with the Quadrumana, and were arranged 
by Linnseus with man and the monkeys. They are sufficiently 
distinguished, however, by their wings. These are formed of a 
thin fold of skin, which extends between the two limbs of the 
same side, in the manner formerly described (Fig. 13.) By 
means of this apparatus many of them are enabled to fly 
with a force and rapidity equal to that of most birds ; but, in 
others, it answers only the purpose of a parachute to break their 
fall from lofty places, or to enable them to perform great leaps 
in their passage from tree to tree. They are principally noctur- 
nal animals, seeking their prey (which consists of insects, small 
quadrupeds or birds, and flesh of any kind) in the twilight, and 
retiring during the day to dark and hidden recesses, where they 
remain suspended by their claws till the return of night. 

Beside the common bat, with the appearance of which all are 
familiar, there are many others, differing a good deal in size 
and disposition, inhabiting other countries. Among them is the 



68 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

Vampire. This is from five inches to a foot in length, with a 
proportional extent of wing. It inhabits Africa and Asia, but is 
found most abundantly in the East Indian islands. It is very 
gregarious, and collects in immense flocks. Five hundred have 
been counted hanging on a single tree. It does not confine itself 
to animal food, but subsists also upon fruits and vegetables, and 
is the cause of great injury to the produce of the countries it in- 
habits. It has been supposed to suck the blood of persons lying 
asleep, by making an orifice in some exposed vein, which it does 
so easily as not to awaken the sleeper. It attacks in the same 
way cattle and horses, who are sometimes seriously injured by 
the loss of blood. Hence this animal has received the name 
Vampire, and is thought to have given origin to the ancient fable 
of the Harpies. It is said to be excellent food. 

The Spectre Bat is a species very similar in its habits to the 
one just described. It is a smaller animal, not exceeding seven 
inches in the length of its body, and two feet in the extent of the 
membrane of its wings. It is an inhabitant of Australia, and 
exists in immense numbers. Twenty thousand have been com- 
puted to be seen within the compass of a mile. It has the same 
propensity for drawing blood as the Vampire, and is said to 
cause great injury and destruction among cattle by this means. 
It is of a mild disposition, and is easily tamed and domesticated. 

2. The second tribe of this order includes a number of small 
animals, which feed principally upon insects, and are called in- 
sectivorous. Many of them pass the winter in a dormant state, 
and during summer lead a secluded, nocturnal or subterranean 
life. Their limbs are short, and their motions very feeble. Such 
are the hedgehog, the tenrec, the shrewmouse, and the mole. 

The Hedgehog is remarkable for being covered with short, 
strong spines instead of hairs, and for the faculty of drawing its 
head and feet in such a manner under its belly, as to give itself 
the appearance of a ball covered with sharp bristles. In this 
way it resists the attacks made upon it, using no other method 
of defence ; and no violence will induce it to alter its form or 
position. It is a harmless and inoffensive animal, and suffers 
injuries of all kinds with great patience and forbearance. It is 
about nine or ten inches in length, inhabits holes and decayed 




VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 69 

trees, into which it retreats in order to pass the winter. Its skin 
was used by the ancients for a clothes-brash, and has been some- 
times employed for the purpose of dressing hemp. 

The Moles are pe- Fig. 18. 

culiarly adapted, by 
the structure of iheir 
nose and feet, for bur- 
rowing in the earth. 
This operation they 
perform with great 
facility and rapidity. 
So expert are they, Mole ' 

that if put upon the grass where the earth is soft, they force their 
way into it almost immediately ; and even upon a hard, gravelly 
road, they can cover themselves in the course of a few minutes. 
They feed principally upon the earthworm, and prefer the soil 
in which it is to be found in greatest abundance for their resi- 
dence. They construct habitations of a peculiar form, to be here- 
after described, in which they rear their young, and lead a social 
and domestic life. They sometimes increase in number to such 
an extent as to be a serious annoyance to the husbandman. 

3. The animals of the third tribe possess the characteristics 
of this order in the highest degree. They are endowed not only 
with an appetite for animal food, and a structure adapted for 
its mastication and digestion, but with strength and courage for 
seizing and retaining it. They are not all, however, purely car- 
nivorous, nor equally ferocious. Some are slow and indolent in 
their motions, and clumsy in their forms, passing the winter in 
cold climates in a state of lethargy, and being capable of subsist- 
ing in a great measure upon vegetable food. Such are the bear, 
glutton, and badger. There are others, as the weasel, the ermine, 
the ferret, and the polecat, mean in size and appearance, and of 
a long, lean body, with very short legs, enabling them to creep 
through very narrow apertures. They are small and feeble, but 
still extremely cruel. Others again, as the dog, the wolf, the 
fox, and the jackal, are possessed of a good deal of strength, but 
do not exhibit a proportionate degree of courage and ferocity. 
But the lion, tiger, panther (Fig. 10), &c, are at once the most 



70 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

powerful, the most bloody, and the most ferocious of the animal 
kingdom. Their fore paws are endowed with great muscular 
power, and are armed with sharp nails, which, in a state of rest, 
are drawn in and concealed from sight. They are the terror of 
the forest, feed only upon flesh and blood, and sometimes, when 
driven by hunger, attack even man himself. 

The Dog, so well known to all mankind, presents a great va- 
riety of shape, size, and color, according to the different breeds 
produced by the different situations in which he has been placed. 
No animal is so completely under the control of mankind. Every 
individual of the species gives himself up wholly to his master, 
obeys his voice, acquires his habits, defends his property, and, 
even in spite of caprice and ill usage, remains faithful till death. 
The dog is the only animal which has accompanied man to every 
part of the earth, and forms his most useful ally, particularly in 
the early stages of society, in bringing into subjection the inhab- 
itants of the forest. It has been supposed by some, that the dog 
was originally the same with the wolf, and by others, that he is 
a jackal in a domestic state. But the origin of his connection 
with man is too remote and obscure to allow this question to be 
determined. 

The animals of the Cat kind are all of a fierce and bloody dis- 
position. Some are remarkable for the majesty and elegance of 
their form, or the beauty of their skin. The lion and the tiger 
are the two most celebrated species. 

The Lion is a native of Asia and Africa ; and is found some- 
times of the length of eight or nine feet, exclusively of the tail. 
His appearance is majestic and dignified ; and, although entirely 
carnivorous, he is not remarkable for cruelty or the unnecessary 
destruction of life, but has been sometimes known to exhibit traits 
of generosity and magnanimity. His muscular strength is im- 
mense ; a single stroke of his paw is sufficient to destroy some 
of the larger animals on which he preys ; a sweep of his tail will 
knock down a man ; and he is able to carry off an ox, or even a 
buffalo, when lightened of its entrails, with apparent ease. In 
populous countries, where he is accustomed to the sight and ac- 
quainted with the power of man, he is comparatively timid, and 
will sometimes even fly before women or children ; but in those 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 71 

where he is undisturbed in his dominion, he defies man as well 
as all other animals. The lion, when taken young, is capable of 
being tamed ; and, in a state of confinement, has lived to the age 
of seventy years. 

The Tiger is an inhabitant of the warmer parts of Asia and 
the Indian islands. He attains to nearly the size of the lion, and 
is of equal strength, but far more bloody and cruel. He is the 
scourge of the countries which he infests, and has sometimes 
almost depopulated whole villages. Such is his vigor and the 
rapidity of all his motions, that he has been known, when lurking 
around an army on the march, to spring from a thicket upon a 
soldier, tear him from his horse, and convey him into the forest 
without being molested. When he has seized a large animal, if 
uninterrupted, he plunges his head into the midst of the carcass, 
and sucks the blood. He is not so easily or completely tamed 
as the lion ; but if taken young, is susceptible of a certain degree 
of domestication. 

4. A fourth tribe of the Carnivora comprehends the amphibi- 
ous animals, such as the seal (Fig. 14), the walrus, and the 
morse. They differ from other quadrupeds very widely in their 
external appearance, whilst their internal structure is very nearly 
the same. Their limbs are composed of a similar number of 
bones, arranged in the same way, yet so short and so enveloped 
by the skin as to be of but little use for. walking. But as the 
intervals between the toes are filled up with skin, they form ex- 
cellent oars. * Hence these animals move with great rapidity and 
address in the water, although they can only crawl awkwardly 
upon land. They feed principally upon fish ; and the structure 
of their teeth is manifestly that of carnivorous animals. They 
live almost entirely in the sea, and come upon shore only for the 
purpose of reposing in the sun and suckling their young. They 
breathe, however, like other Mammalia ; and hence cannot con- 
stantly remain under water, but are obliged to return to the sur- 
face for air. Still they are able to live a long time without 
breathing ; and it has been asserted that there is some peculiar 
conformation about their heart, which renders this possible. But 
no such peculiarity is found to exist. 

The Seals are mild and inoffensive, except when provoked. 



72 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

They are easily tamed, and become attached to those who feed 
them. Their head somewhat resembles that of the dog. They 
live together in large herds or families, and are valuable as 
objects of trade on account of their skins and oil. 

IV. Rodentici) the Gnawers, are distinguished by the posses- 
sion of two large incisive teeth in the centre of each jaw, and by 
the absence of canine teeth. There is a wide space between the 
incisors and the molares, which last are broad, and evidently cal- 
culated for the mastication of vegetable food. This arrangement 
of their teeth remarkably qualifies them for gnawing, and enables 
them to penetrate very solid substances ; and frequently they 
feed upon woody fibres and the bark of roots and trees. There 
is an additional circumstance in the structure of their incisive 
teeth, which adapts them to the use for which they are intended. 
They are furnished with enamel only upon their front surface, so 
that the back part, being merely bone, is, by gnawing, worn away 
faster than that in front, and of course the front edge is kept 
sharp and fit for cutting. To remedy the loss of substance which 
necessarily ensues, there is a provision by which a constant 
growth takes place from the root ; hence if one of these teeth is 
lost by accident, that corresponding to it in the opposite jaw, 
being no longer worn away by use, increases to a great length. 
Their feet are furnished with toes and nails, and their hind legs 
are stronger and longer than their fore legs ; so that frequently 
they leap better than they run. Of this order, among others, 
are the beaver, the squirrel, the dormouse, the marmot, the ham- 
ster, the mouse and rat, the jerboa (Fig. 11), the various species 
of hare and rabbit, and the porcupine. ■ 

The Beavers have been long celebrated for the value of their 
skins as an article of commerce, and for the wonderful sagacity 
and forethought they exhibit in the construction of their dwell- 
ings. Their cutting teeth are very strong and sharp, and they 
are able, with them, to fell lofty trees. They are possessed of a 
large, long, and broad tail, almost oval in its shape, and covered 
with scales. It has been supposed that they employ this as a kind 
of trowel, to lay on the mud and clay of which their dikes are 
partly built. But it has also been asserted that the tail is only 
of use as an instrument for swimming. They are aquatic ani- 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 73 

mals, and construct themselves habitations upon waters suffi- 
ciently deep never to be frozen to the bottom, preferring running 
streams upon which the trees they cut can float down to what- 
ever sjiot they have chosen. Here they build a dam for the 
purpose of preserving the water always of a convenient depth, 
and construct their huts or cabins. Of their skill, sagacity, and 
intelligence, a more particular account will be given hereafter. 
But, although so wonderful in these respects when united in a 
society, they are, for the most part, helpless and timorous ani- 
mals when living separately; a beaver, although pretty large 
and strong, and armed with powerful teeth, if he meet a man 
alone upon the shore, sets himself down upon his haunches, and 
cries like a child. 

The Jerboa is a little animal of about the size of a rat, with a 
tail ten inches long, and limbs of very unequal size, the hind legs 
being six inches, whilst the fore legs are but one inch in length. 
It cannot of course use them all at once without great difficulty, 
and moves principally by leaps, which are sometimes of five or 
six feet in extent, or by a hopping motion on its two hind legs, 
which resembles that of birds. Its fore legs it employs only as 
hands for the purpose of holding its food. It is supposed that 
the ancient cony, mentioned in the Old Testament, was the 
jerboa, which inhabits Palestine to this day. 

There is an American species, the Canadian Jerboa, which 
does not exceed two and a half or three inches in length. It 
has the same general characteristics as the animal before men- 
tioned, and even exceeds it in the length of its leaps, which 
extend, if we may credit the accounts given of them, to the 
enormous distance of three or four yards, or nearly fifty times 
the length of its body. 

The Hamster is an animal larger and thicker than the jerboa, 
and nearly allied to the common rat. It is distinguished by 
cheek pouches, which are capable of containing a very large 
quantity of food. When empty, they are so contracted as not to 
appear externally visible; but when filled, are stretched to an 
enormous extent, and are capable of containing a gill of grain. 
A hamster has been caught and dissected, that had stored in its 
pouches a quantity of beans, which, when taken out and laid in 
4 



74 VERTEBKAL ANIMALS. 

a heap, appeared to exceed the bulk of its whole body. The 
Canada rat is almost equally remarkable for the size of these 
receptacles. 

Of the Alpine Marmot some account will be given hereafter. 
There is another species, however, which deserves a short notice. 
This is the Louisiana Marmot, usually known by the name of the 
prairie dog, from a slight resemblance of its cry to the barking of 
a small dog. It is a sprightly and interesting little animal, in- 
habiting the country around the Missouri and Arkansas rivers, 
and is found in villages from a few acres to several miles in 
extent, called by the hunters, prairie dog villages. It lives in 
burrows, the entrance to which is in the summit or side of a 
small mound of earth, somewhat elevated, but rarely to the 
height of eighteen inches. This mound, particularly around the 
entrance, is trodden down like a pathway. They delight, in 
pleasant weather, to sport about the entrance of their burrows, 
and iiwe or six individuals may be seen sitting on a single mound. 
When alarmed, if the object of terror be near at hand, they 
retreat immediately into their holes ; but if at a distance, they 
remain for some time barking and flourishing their tails, or 
sitting erect to reconnoitre. 

The Porcupine is covered with hard and sharp spines, which 
afford it a natural protection against the attacks of other animals. 
In this respect it resembles the hedgehog, and, were external 
appearance alone regarded, would be arranged with it ; but both 
its structure and its habits of life are different, and it is obviously 
intended for subsisting upon vegetable food. 

V. Edentata, Toothless animals, so called from the absence of 
the incisive, and sometimes also of the canine and grinding teeth. 
Their toes are terminated by very large, thick, and strong claws, 
which approach in some degree to the nature of hoofs. The ani- 
mals of this order are likewise remarkable for a great degree of 
torpor, listlessness, and indisposition to motion ; but some more 
than others. The sloth, the anteater, and armadillo, are among 
them ; and of each of these there are several species. 

The Three-toed Sloth is an animal whose very aspect is pain- 
ful and disgusting, from its excessive ugliness and deformity. 
The expression of its countenance and its whole attitude, indeed, 



VERTEBKAL ANIMALS. 



79 




Sloth. 



convey to the beholder the Ei s- 19> 

impression, that its very 
existence is a burden. It 
is about the size of a cat. 
Its fore legs are much 
larger than its hind ones, 
and it drags the latter after 
its body, as if weary of car- 
rying them. It creeps, in 
fact, almost with its belly 
upon the ground, and does 
not advance more than Mty 

or sixty paces in a day. It climbs trees, and feeds upon their 
leaves and smaller branches ; but such is its indolence, that, 
after having despoiled one tree of its foliage, it endures the 
pangs of hunger a long time, before it removes to another, and 
usually consumes a day or two in ascending or descending. 
Sometimes, indeed, it has been known to suffer itself to fall 
to the ground, rather than undergo the labor of coming down by 
the trunk. Such at least is the account given by some natural- 
ists. By others, on the contrary, a different picture has been 
drawn, and the sloth has been represented as capable of no incon- 
siderable liveliness and rapidity of motion when moving over the 
branches of trees, which are its proper habitation, and for living 
among which its structure is particularly adapted. 

The Armadillos are principally remarkable for their crus- 
taceous shell or covering, which invests them like a suit of armor. 
This coat of mail is composed of several pieces, and marked by 
bands, the number of which serves to distinguish the different 
species from each other. 

The Anteaters are totally destitute of teeth, but are furnished 
with a long, slender tongue. This they thrust into the habita- 
tions of ants and termites, and draw it back covered with these 
animals, which adhere to it by the thick, viscid saliva, with which 
it is covered. 

The animals of this order are principally found in the warm 
parts of the American continent. 

VI. Ruminantia. These are among the most distinct and 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

well marked of the Mammalia. They have generally eight 
incisive teeth in the lower jaw ; but, except the camel, they have 
none in the upper ; their place being occupied by a firm callous 
projection. They are commonly also destitute of the canine 
teeth. The grinders are exclusively adapted for the mastication 
of vegetable food. They have neither toes nor nails, but, instead 
of them, their feet are terminated by a double hoof, which has 
the appearance of a single one cut in two. Hence they are 
called cloven-footed. Their fore feet, being thus deprived of the 
instruments of feeling, are only capable of being used, like the 
hind ones, for walking ; and consequently they are not possessed 
of that freedom of motion in the shoulder-joint, which is observed 
in the animals previously described. Examples of this order 
are found in the camel (Fig. 12), llama, antelope, musk, deer, ox, 
sheep, and goat. 

The most distinguished attribute of the ruminating animals, 
and that which gives to them their name, is the power of bring- 
ing their food up into their mouths, after it has been once swal- 
lowed, for the purpose of masticating it a second time. This 
power depends upon the structure of their stomachs, of which 
there are four. Of these the first three are so situated that the 
aliments may be made to enter either of them at pleasure, as the 
oesophagus terminates at a point where they all communicate 
together. 

These animals usually feed upon grass and herbage ; which 
substances, after being slightly chewed, are carried into the first 
stomach, called the paunch ; there they undergo but little change, 
and are gradually transferred to the second stomach, a small 
globular cavity, called the bonnet, or king's hood, whose internal 
membrane is arranged in cells of an appearance like those of 
honey-comb. Having received the food, this stomach divides it 
into little rolls or pellets, which are successively carried up into 
the mouth, where they undergo a thorough mastication, and are 
then again swallowed and deposited in the third stomach. This, 
called manyplies, tripe, or feck, is distinguished by the numerous 
longitudinal folds of its internal membrane. It effects some 
further change upon the alimentary mass. In the fourth stom- 
ach, however, into which it next passes, the principal work of 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

digestion goes on. This answers to the single stomach of other 
animals ; into it the gastric juice is poured, and here the function 
is finally completed. During the rumination, the animal remains 
in a state of repose, almost of sleep ; and this operation continues 
until the whole of the food previously swallowed has been sub- 
jected to it. 

The ruminating animals have been more valuable to man 
than any others. They are mild, docile, and easily domesticated. 
Their flesh furnishes us with a large proportion of our animal 
food ; indeed there are few other quadrupeds that man is in the 
habit of eating. Several of them, as the camel, the llama, ox, 
and reindeer, are used as beasts of draught and burden. They 
require, comparatively, little care, attention, or protection, and 
are generally contented with the cheapest and coarsest food. 
The milk, fat, hair, wool, skins, horns, and feet of one species or 
another, are made use of, for nourishment, for clothing, or for 
various manufactures. 

The Camel and Dromedary are singularly valuable in the 
countries where they are reared. Without them, in fact, the 
great deserts of Arabia and of Africa would be totally impas- 
sable. Their structure is every way adapted for the life they 
lead. Their feet are very large, and divided, on their upper 
part, into two lobes, having each a hoof; but underneath are 
covered with an extremely strong, tough, and pliable skin, which 
unites the two together, and, by yielding in all directions, enables 
these animals to travel with peculiar ease and security over dry, 
stony, and sandy regions. They are capable also of passing 
several days without a supply of water : this power is probably 
owing to a number of large and extensive cells in the paunch, 
which they fill with water, and retain it for a considerable length 
of time, forcing it up into the mouth whenever occasion requires. 
It has been supposed that the camel had a fifth stomach for this 
purpose, but it was probably this enlargement of the paunch, 
which gave rise to the opinion. The Arabian camel, of which 
the dromedary is a variety, has one large bunch of fat upon his 
back, while the Bactrian camel has two. The dromedary is 
active and swift, and better adapted for rapid journeys ; the 
camel more slow and deliberate, and calculated for the transpor- 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

tation of baggage and merchandise. The camel has lately been 
introduced upon this continent by the Government of the United 
States, and promises to form a useful addition to the stock of 
domestic animals. 

The Llama has been called the camel of the new world. It 
resembles the camel in many particulars, but is much smaller, 
being of about the size of the stag. It is also called the Guanaco, 
and was the only laboring domestic animal possessed by the ab- 
original inhabitants of America. 

The American Bison, or Buffalo, as it is usually called, is very 
similar to the domestic ox. It inhabits the pastures and plains 
of the western parts of the United States in almost incredible 
numbers. In those parts of the country which they frequent, 
travellers report that their paths leading to and from springs and 
pools of water, are as common, and as well beaten, as the roads 
of a populous district. They are gradually retiring before the 
settlements of the civilized inhabitants, and will probably in time 
become nearly exterminated. 

The Camelopard, or Giraffe, (Fig. 16,) is the most lofty of 
quadrupeds. It is remarkable for the great length of its fore 
legs, shoulders, and neck, which raise its head to an elevation of 
seventeen or eighteen feet, whilst, at its hips, it does not exceed 
half that height. Its color is white, spotted with brown. It is a 
mild, gentle, and somewhat timid animal, very fleet and graceful 
in its motions. It feeds principally upon the foliage of trees, and 
inhabits only the centre of Africa. 

All the ruminating order, except the camel, llama, and the 
musks, have horns. In animals of the deer kind, they are, with 
some exceptions, confined to the males. They are of a hard, 
solid, bony substance, generally large and branching, and are 
periodically cast off and renewed. In the sheep, the goat, the ox, 
and the antelope, they are permanent, are hollow, and increase 
yearly in size ; whilst in the camelopard they are short, conical, 
and always covered by the skin of the forehead, which extends 
over them, and by a quantity of thick bristly hairs. 

VII. Pachydermata. This order embraces all the hoofed 
animals which do not ruminate. They present a greater variety 
than the ruminating animals, and are called Pachydermata be- 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 79 

cause many of them are possessed of a thick and tough skin. 
They have generally incisive teeth in both jaws, and often canine 
teeth or tusks of very great size. Of this order are the elephant, 
the hippopotamus, the tapir, the hog, the horse, the ass. 

The Elephant has, properly speaking, five hoofs on each foot, 
but they are so much enveloped by thick and callous skin as to 
be scarcely observable. It is destitute of incisive teeth in either 
jaw ; and, in place of the canine teeth in the upper, is furnished 
with two large tusks, which sometimes attain to an enormous 
size. These, which furnish the ivory of commerce, are used by 
the animal for tearing off the branches of trees, upon which it 
feeds, and sometimes as instruments of attack and defence. That 
by which the elephant is most remarkably characterized is its 
trunk. This is unique among animals. It is a long and flexible 
organ, composed of an almost infinite number of little muscles, 
which contract and extend it at the animal's pleasure, and move 
it in every possible direction. It is in fact a prolongation of the 
nostrils and is endowed with the senses of smelling and feeling 
to a great degree of perfection. There is at its extremity a 
cavity of a cup-like form, into which open two canals that run 
through its whole length, and serve for the transmission of air 
and for drawing up water. At the upper edge of this cavity is 
a small fleshy appendage, somewhat resembling a finger in shape, 
which, by being opposed to the surface of the cup as the fingers 
are opposed to the palm of the hand, enables the animal to make 
use of its trunk as an organ of touch. It is nearly equal in this 
respect to the hand of the apes. From its length and flexibility, 
the trunk is capable ofiftbeing bent double, and its extremity in- 
serted within the jaws, which are below, at its base. In this 
way the animal's food, being taken up by the trunk, is conveyed 
into the mouth ; whilst liquids, being first sucked up into its 
cavities, is injected with considerable force through its apertures 
into the throat. 

There are two species of elephant ; the Indian or Asiatic, 
which inhabits the southern parts of Asia and the Indian isles ; 
and the African, found in Africa, from the river Senegal to the 
Cape of Good Hope. 

The great Mastodon, or Mammoth, as it has been more fre- 



80 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

quently called, an animal whose bones only have been discovered, 
the species itself having become extinct, resembled the elephant 
in many respects. It has been ascertained, from its remains, that 
it possessed a trunk, tusks, and feet, similar to those of the ele- 
phant, and was of an equal height, but still more heavy and un- 
wieldy. Its remains have been discovered in great abundance 
in North America, but rarely in any other part of the world. 
The bones of a smaller species have been found on the eastern 
continent. 

The Hippopotamus, or River Horse, inhabits principally the 
rivers of the south of Africa, but was formerly known upon the 
southern extremities of the Nile. It is sometimes found ten or 
twelve feet in length, and six or seven in height. It has two 
very large tusks in the under jaw, which are partly concealed by 
its projecting snout and lips. These tusks were formerly used 
by dentists in the manufacture of artificial teeth. It is a heavy, 
stupid, and ferocious animal ; its body is thick, massy, and 
clumsy ; and its legs are so short that its belly almost drags upon 
the ground. It subsists upon roots and other vegetable sub- 
stances, and frequently commits great devastation in fields of 
millet, corn, rice, and sugar-cane. It walks with great ease at the 
bottom of the water, though obliged occasionally to rise to the 
surface for breath. An attack upon it while in the water is 
dangerous, since, when wounded, it becomes exceedingly furious, 
and often tears to pieces the boat of its aggressors. 

Of the Rhinoceros there are several species. The one- 
horned rhinoceros is somewhat larger than the hippopotamus, 
and is equally ferocious. It has one lar<^ and solid horn, three 
feet in length, projecting from its snout. It frequents moist and 
marshy grounds, and feeds upon herbs, roots, and branches of 
trees. The other species have two horns, and are generally 
similar in form and habits of life. 

The Tapir is the largest quadruped of South America, of 
about the size of an ass, and inhabits marshes and low grounds. 
Its nose terminates in a short and movable trunk, which bears a 
distant resemblance to that of the elephant. It subsists entirely 
upon vegetables, and is of a gentle and timid disposition. 

From the Wild Boar is derived the domestic Hog and all its 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 81 

varieties. The wild animal is violent and ferocious, and is armed 
with much larger and stronger tusks than the domestic. All the 
numerous varieties of form, size, and color, which are observed 
among hogs, are to be attributed to the circumstances to which 
they are exposed in their domestic state. 

Under this order are included the Solipeda or single-hoofed 
animals, in which the whole foot is enveloped in a single hoof. 
Of these, the most celebrated is the horse, the most beautiful and 
noble of quadrupeds. These animals are distinguished, beside 
the formation of their hoofs, by the possession of six incisive 
teeth in each jaw ; and, in the male, of two small canine teeth in 
the upper, and sometimes in the under jaw, which are wanting in 
the female. Between these and the double teeth, or grinders, 
there is a vacant space, just corresponding to the angle of the 
lips, where in the horse the bit of the bridle is placed, by which 
man is enabled to guide and restrain him. Beside the horse, which 
is the most valuable and highly prized of all the domestic animals, 
this family embraces the ass, the zebra, the dziggetai, a species 
between the horse and the ass in size, of a light bay color, in- 
habiting the central deserts of Asia, and the quagga, an inhabi- 
tant of Africa, resembling in shape the horse, but in stripes of 
dark and white colors, the zebra. 

Fig. 20. 




Quagga. 

All these animals are found naturally in the wild state, except 

4* 



82 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

the horse. They are gregarious, live in immense herds, and 
subsist entirely upon vegetable food. Even the horse, in Tar- 
tary and America, is found, free from the dominion of man, 
collected into troops or companies, each of which is led and 
defended by an aged male. But in such cases it has been 
proved that the wild animals are the descendants of individuals 
that have been set at liberty by their masters, or that have 
escaped from them. Different breeds of horses differ, as is well 
known, in their color, size, speed, shape, strength, and many 
other qualities, which render them more or less valuable. These 
differences depend very much upon the care which is taken in 
rearing the young. The most beautiful, if suffered to become 
wild, will begin soon to deteriorate, and give birth to a progeny 
destitute of elegance and symmetry. The horse in the wild state 
has a large and clumsy head, rough and frizzled hair, and an 
awkward and disagreeable form ; so different indeed is he from 
the domestic animal, that we can hardly recognize him as being 
of the same species with the noble and graceful creature that we 
are accustomed to behold. 

VIII. Cetacea. The whales are sometimes confounded with 
the class of Fishes, which they resemble in many particulars of 
external appearance, as well as in the circumstance of residing 
always in the water. In point of structure, however, they clearly 
belong to the class Mammalia, since they breathe air by means 
of lungs, are warm-blooded, produce their young alive, and nour- 
ish them with their own milk. Instead of fore feet, they are 
furnished with fins or oars, which, however, are supported by 
bones similar to those of the fore feet of quadrupeds. They 
have no hind feet, but their body terminates in a thick tail, which 
supports a fin or oar. This fin is horizontal, whilst that of fishes 
is vertical. 

A few of the Cetacea are herbivorous, and are frequently 
obliged to leave the water and crawl upon the shore in search 
of food. Such are the manati, usually called the sea-ox and 
sea-cow. They have upon their fins the rudiments of claws, 
which are of service to them in their motions upon the land, 
and with which they are even able to carry their young. The 
mammae, from which they nurse their young, are upon the 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 83 

chest, like those of the human species ; and they have, around 
the face, a growth of hair which resembles, in a slight degree, 
that of man. Hence the appearance they present when the 
upper part of their bodies is elevated above the water, bears 
some resemblance to that of mankind, and they have, conse- 
quently, been called sea-apes. It is probable that these animals 
being seen by the credulous, the ignorant, the timid, or the su- 
perstitious, gave rise to the ancient fables of the tritons and sirens, 
and, in modern times, to the various unfounded stories of mermen 
and mermaids. 

The remainder of the cetaceous animals, such as the whale, 
porpoise, grampus, narwhal, and dolphin (Fig. 15), are dis- 
tinguished by a peculiar construction, which has acquired for 
them the common name of blowers, and which is rendered neces- 
sary by their mode of taking their prey. In taking into their 
very large mouths a great number of fishes, mollusca, medusae, 
&c, at once, they would swallow at the same time large quanti- 
ties of water, were there not some provision for getting rid of it. 
To effect this, the water is passed up through the roof of the 
mouth, into a cavity situated near the external orifice of the 
nostrils, from whence it is ejected, with considerable force, through 
a small aperture, called the blowhole, on the upper part of the 
head. In some of the whales, as in the great balaena, beside this 
arrangement, the mouth is furnished with rows of whalebone on 
each side, extended in the form of thin plates, and terminating 
at their edges in fibres or fringes, which serve the purpose of a 
sieve, or strainer, to retain the large shoals of little animals that 
are taken in with the water, whilst the water passes through and 
escapes. 

The Balaena mysticetus, or great Greenland Whale, is an 
enormous animal, which attains to a length varying from sixty 
to seventy or eighty feet, and is of nearly as many in circum- 
ference. Its jaws are capable of being stretched twenty feet 
apart, and its plates of whalebone are sometimes twelve feet in 
length. It is covered, under the cuticle, by a layer of a peculiar 
texture composed of fat and skin, called blubber, often several 
feet thick, and yielding according to the different sizes of the 
animal, from twelve to twenty tons of oil. It used formerly 



84 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

to frequent the Atlantic coasts of Europe and America ; but to 
such an extent has the pursuit of it been carried, that it has 
gradually been driven into the recesses of remote seas. 

There are other whales equal in length to this, but less valuable 
on account of their smaller circumference, their comparative lean- 
ness, and the difficulty of taking them. 

The Spermaceti Whales are without the whalebone, and are 
remarkable for the disproportionate size of their heads. This 
size is owing to the existence of certain cartilaginous cavities 
upon their upper part, in which is contained the peculiar sub- 
stance known by the name of spermaceti. These cavities are 
entirely distinct from that containing the brain, which is very 
small. They have little fat in other parts of their bodies ; and it 
is on account of the spermaceti only that they are a valuable ob- 
ject of fishery. The odorous substance called ambergris, appears 
to be a concretion formed in the intestines of these whales, par- 
ticularly when they are the subjects of disease. 

IX. Marsupialia. The Marsupial and Monotrematous animals 
were originally distributed among those orders of the class Mam- 
malia, to which they bear, in some particulars, the closest re- 
semblance. Thus the kangaroo has been enumerated among 
the Rodentia, because it resembles them in its teeth, and the 
length and strength of its hind legs. The opossum has been 
ranked among the Carnivora, and the ornithorhynchus among the 
Edentata, for a similar reason. But so peculiar and remarkable 
is their structure, and so singular their mode of nourishing their 
young, that it has been found necessary to separate them into 
distinct orders. 

The most remarkable circumstance, with regard to the Mar- 
supial animals, is the premature birth of their young, and the 
exceedingly unformed and imperfect state in which they are 
brought into the world. They are incapable of motion, and 
scarcely exhibit even the rudiments of limbs or other external 
organs. The mouth is simply a round orifice, without distinction 
of parts ; but by means of it, they attach themselves to the 
nipples of the mother, and there remain immovably fixed, de- 
riving their nourishment from them, and gradually improving in 
shape and increasing in size, until they are as completely formed 



VEKTEBRAL ANIMALS. 85 

as other animals are at the time of their birth. So small in pro- 
portion are the young when first born, that the kangaroo, which, 
when full grown, is as large as a sheep, and weighs one hundred 
and fifty pounds, is at its birth no more than an inch in length, 
and weighs only twenty-one grains. 

Generally, the female is furnished with a duplicature of the 
skin of the abdomen, which forms a kind of bag, covering the 
nipples, in which it places its young, and preserves them during 
the period of helplessness. Frequently, indeed, even after they 
have acquired strength to leave this pouch, they retreat into it 
upon the approach of danger. Sometimes, in place of the 
pouch, there is simply a fold of the skin. The pouch is sup- 
ported by means of two bones attached to those of the pelvis, 
from which proceed muscles that open or contract its mouth, like 
the opening of a purse. These bones are found also in the male 
and in those species which have not the complete pouch. They 
are always an indication that the animal belongs to this order. 

The Opossum is as large as a cat, and covered with a thick 
fur of a dingy cast. It hunts after birds and their eggs, and is 
destructive to poultry. It is found in many parts of the United 
States. When pursued and overtaken, it feigns itself dead, and 
will give no- signs of life during the presence of its assailant, al- 
though tortured to a great degree. Its young, which are some- 
times six or seven in number, are exceedingly minute ; and, 
although blind and without limbs, find their way, by a sort of 
instinct, to the nipples, and adhere to them till they have attained 
the size of a mouse, which is not until the fiftieth day, when also 
they first open their eyes. They continue to return into the pouch, 
until they reach the size of a rat. 

The Phalangers are found in the Moluccas and in Australia. 
Their tails are long, covered with scales, and prehensile. They 
live upon trees, and subsist upon insects and fruit. When any 
one approaches them, they suspend themselves by the tail, until 
they fall, through mere fatigue, to the ground. The Phalanger 
volans, or Great Flying Opossum, is about the size of a common 
cat, and resembles, in many respects, the flying squirrel. Like that 
animal, it is provided with the power of extending the loose skin 
of its sides when it stretches out its legs, so as in some measure 



86 VERTEBKAL ANIMALS. 

to buoy itself in the air, whilst leaping from one tree to another. 
It can leap in this way to the distance of a hundred yards. 

The Merian Opossum is remarkable for its method of carrying 
its young on its back, where they fix themselves by twisting their 
tails closely about that of their parent, clinging with their claws 
to its fur. 

The Kangaroo (Fig. 17) is the largest animal of this order, 
and the largest quadruped which has been discovered in Aus- 
tralia. It is sometimes six feet in height, and is distinguished by 
the great disproportion in length between its fore and hind legs ; 
the former being only one foot and a half long, but the latter 
three feet and a half. In consequence of this, they cannot walk 
upon all fours without difficulty, but leap with great power and 
to a prodigious distance, sometimes twenty feet, and to the height 
of nine feet. They sit upon their hind legs whilst at rest, seldom 
using the fore legs, except for supporting themselves when stoop- 
ing to drink, for conveying food to the mouth, and for digging in 
the earth. But although disproportionately long, as has just been 
observed, when full grown, the hind legs of the kangaroo at birth 
are not so large or so strong as the fore legs, which are more 
necessary, in order to favor the motions of the little animal while 
in the pouch. 

X. Monotremata. Of these the most remarkable is the Orni- 
thorhynchus, or as it was at first called, the Duck-billed Opossum. 
Naturalists were at first startled, when this animal was made 
known to them, by the strange combination which it exhibits of 
the characteristics of the quadruped and the bird. It has a bill like 
a duck, a fourchette or wishing-bone, and spurs upon its hind 
feet ; the limbs of an aquatic quadruped, the body of the otter, 
and the fur of the mole. Its young are produced in a very 
imperfect and unformed state, like those of the Marsupial ani- 
mals ; and though it has no pouch, it has the marsupial bones. 

The Echidna, or Porcupine Anteater, is another animal of this 
order, resembling it in certain characteristic traits, but widely 
differing in many others, and in habits and modes of life. It is 
covered with spines like the porcupine ; its mouth and jaws are 
constructed like those of the anteaters ; but its relation to its 
young is like that of the ornithorhynchus, and it has, like this 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 87 

Tig. 21. 




Ornithorhynchus. 

animal, spurs upon its hind feet. Like this animal, also, it is 
only found in Australia and some of the islands of that part of 
the world. With a few exceptions, this is, also, true of the 
Marsupialia. 

SECTION II. 

CLASS II. BIRDS. 

Birds are more uniform in their structure than animals of any 
other class. The reason of this uniformity may be probably at- 
tributed to the peculiar character of the motions for which they 
are chiefly intended. The muscular structure, even of quad- 
rupeds, intended to move only on the surface of the earth, is 
largely devoted to progressive motion, though they are still 
capable of many other uses of their limbs. But in Birds, the 
element in which their principal movements are performed, ren- 
ders it necessary that a vastly greater proportion of muscular 
power should be devoted to this function, and, of course, a less 
proportion to all others. When we consider how powerful an effort 
is required for us to leap but a few feet from the earth, we can 
easily understand how great must be that by which a bird con- 
veys itself with ease and rapidity through the air. 

So prominent are the provisions for this species of locomotion 
in Birds, that it is found, on examination, that their whole struc- 
ture is modified in order to adapt them to this, as if it were the 



88 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

principal object. Not that a particular kind of locomotion actu- 
ally is, in birds, or in any other animal, the principal object of 
existence ; it always is, and must be, subordinate to other pur- 
poses. But in an animal whose kind of motion requires, com- 
paratively, such enormous power as flying, those other purposes 
which are more important as it respects the nourishment, growth, 
exercise of the senses, and animal enjoyment, are modified in 
their mode of performance, so as not to interfere with this. Cut off 
a bird's wings, and all these great ends of life may be answered 
just as well as if he could still fly ; and yet, such is the predomi- 
nating influence which the preparation for this function has had 
upon his structure, that all the remaining organs exhibit indications 
of this influence, as much as those which have been removed. 

Hence it is, that the structure of Birds as a class, connected 
with their peculiar mode of locomotion, affords some of our most 
striking examples of the adaptation of structure to purpose, and 
of a designing mind in creation. 

Let us look at the modifications of their structure, and the 
purposes they are intended to answer. Their respiratory appa- 
ratus is much more extensive, and they consume a much greater 
amount of air than other animals. This is rendered necessary 
by the great amount of muscular power which is expended in 
flying. Where there is great muscular action, there is required 
a corresponding quantity of blood to support that action. This 
renders necessary a greater exposure of the blood to the influence 
of air in the lungs. Lavoisier tells us that two sparrows consumed 
as much oxygen from a portion of air as a guinea pig, an animal 
many times as large. The air, in Birds, not only penetrates the 
lungs, but into cells among the viscera, among the muscles, and in 
the cavities of the bones. This not only makes respiration more 
extensive, but renders the body lighter in proportion to its bulk and 
strength. In those birds which fly highest and longest, this pro- 
vision is most ample, and is found chiefly in and about the wings ; 
whilst in those which fly badly, like the domestic fowl, or do not 
fly at all, like the ostrich, it is less extensive, and is transferred from 
the wings to the legs. Through all these cavities the air circulates 
as it does through the lungs. 

There is a further purpose answered by the hollo wness of the 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



89 



Fig. 22. 



bones, beside that of increasing the respiratory surface. It is an 
object in the bird to combine strength with lightness, and the 
strongest form into which any given quantity of material can be 
put is that of a hollow cylinder. For this reason the bones of 
birds are hollow cylinders. Had they been made on precisely the 
same plan with those of the Mammalia, it would have been ne- 
cessary, in order to give them the requisite strength, that they 
shoulcL have been much heavier. 

In the construction of the skeleton 
the same predominating purpose is 
manifest. The general plan is the 
same as in Mammalia, but in every 
part are found modifications intended 
to adapt the animal for flight. The 
backbone in the Mammalia is com- 
posed of separate pieces, movable 
upon each other, constituting a flex- 
ible column. In Birds, these pieces 
are all consolidated, to give a firm 
steady base to support the violent 
actions of the wings. The breast- 
bone, instead of being small and nar- 
row, is large, broad, and flat, with a 
projecting ridge or keel in the middle, 
the whole presenting a very extensive 
surface for the insertion and recep- 
tion of the large muscles which move 
the wings. 

In the act of flying, a very nice 
adjustment of the mechanical rela- 
tions of different parts is necessary. 
The body is to be very accurately 
balanced upon the points of insertion of the two wings, as upon 
pivots, whilst in order to preserve the vertical position, the whole 
apparatus requires to be ballasted, as much as a ship in the 
water, or it would be constantly liable to misplacement, in the 
course of the various and sudden changes of position to which 
the animal is liable. This is effected by placing the point of 




Skeleton of Falcon. 



90 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

suspension above the greatest portion of the weight of the body, 
especially of the large breastbone with its projecting keel and 
large mass of muscular flesh. The equilibrium of the body is 
otherwise preserved by the head and neck before, and the feet 
and legs behind. These usually correspond in weight, but where 
they do not, or when, during the act of flying, the balance is 
destroyed, such is the freedom of motion of these parts, that by a 
change in their direction, it may be thrown forward or backward. 
An example of this effort at maintaining the equilibrium, is seen 
in birds with very long necks and long legs, who in flying throw 
the former very far forward and the latter backward. 

The anterior limbs being used for flying are good for nothing 
else ; consequently the bird is a biped. Still it is not, like man, 
intended for the erect posture, but for one somewhat horizontal ; 
and consequently the toes are made very long, and project like 
radii, in order to form a large base to support the body. In man, 
the length of the foot is about twelve inches, and its average 
breadth not over three and one half inches, giving an area of 
forty-two square inches, as a base to support the body, whose 
height is nearly six feet. In the common domestic fowl the ex- 
tent of surface is about ten square inches, while the height of the 
body is from twelve to eighteen. In this way, it is enabled with 
two limbs to maintain a posture nearly horizontal.* 

Birds, then, though bipeds, are bipeds of a very different kind 

from man. Man is intended for an erect, birds for a horizontal, 

or rather, perhaps, an oblique, posture. Hence arise certain of 

their modifications of structure. It is necessary that the centre 

of gravity should be underneath the shoulders, in order to flying, 

and as far back as and between the feet, in order to walking and 

standing. Hence, as the joints of the hip-bones are very far back 

on the trunk, the feet are, by the bending of the joints, thrown very 

far forward in order to maintain the balance of the body. This 

is necessary even when the head is erect, but when the head is 

thrown forward and downward so as to reach the ground, the 

* In a male bird measured for this purpose, whose height was found to be 
nearly a foot and a half, the area covered by the foot was nearly ten square 
inches and its length from before backward no less than five inches. So that, 
while the height of the bird is but one fourth that of man, the length of its foot 
is nearly one half, in that direction in which a greater support is required. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 91 

hips are carried still farther backward, in order to equalize the 
weight which is thus thrown in the other direction. 

Birds cannot lie down like quadrupeds, but are obliged to sleep 
in the horizontal posture, and on their feet. Now when awake, 
this requires a very nice adjustment of muscular action ; how, then, 
is it to be effected when muscular action is suspended by sleep ? 
The very act of settling down upon the roost, draws up the toes in 
such a manner as to cause them to grasp firmly the substance 
they inclose. This is not due to a voluntary muscular contraction, 
but to a cause purely mechanical, independent of the will, and 
which continues till the bird awakes and arises from the perch. 

The bird, thus, has no fore limbs to aid it in procuring food. 
Their exclusive formation for another function incapacitates them 
for this. The deficiency is supplied by the structure of the head, 
bill, and neck. The neck is long to reach the ground, but the 
head is light and small, or, at the end of a long neck, it would 
be unmanageable, and destroy the equilibrium necessary for 
flight. Consequently, there are no heavy, bony jaws and teeth 
for chewing, but food is broken up by the bill, which is strong 
though light, and swallowed without farther preparation. The 
grinding of the food and mixing it with saliva, which in the 
Mammalia are accomplished in the mouth, are in Birds transferred 
to the crop and gizzard, organs situated in the trunk of the body, 
near the centre of gravity. This was necessary in order to adapt 
them to flight. Had a turkey been made to grind up the grain 
it devours, like a horse, it would have required a head nearly as 
large as that of a cat : a size quite inconsistent with the requisite 
equilibrium. We trace everywhere the same subserviency of 
plan to the great object of constructing an animal for flight. 
There is a strict economy of power in every other function, 
in order to reserve it for this. Compare the body of a bird 
with that of a quadruped. Its backbone being immovable, it 
requires no muscles, and accordingly it is barely covered with 
skin ; whilst in quadrupeds, where it is supple and movable, it 
is furnished with a thick layer of flesh. Next the hips and legs, — 
except in birds which run, but fly little or not at all, as the 
ostrich, — are comparatively slender and deficient in power. In 
most quadrupeds, on the contrary, the hind limbs are furnished 



92 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

with many and powerful muscles, those being the chief instru- 
ments in walking and running. So, too, about the neck and 
shoulders there is the same economy of muscular force. This is 
true of the whole body till we come to the wings, where we find 
an immense development in the opposite direction. The breast 
of the bird, consisting of the muscles that move the wings, is very 
large, whilst that of the quadruped is comparatively small. 

It will be perceived by this statement, that, though there are 
many provisions for maintaining a position on two feet in the 
bird, these provisions are chiefly mechanical in their character, — 
such as the large base supplied by their extended toes, and their 
involuntary contraction on the roost, — and do not require a large 
expenditure of muscular power. It is different in man, where the 
erect posture is maintained chiefly by voluntary effort, and hardly 
at all by mechanical advantage. The object in constructing the 
bird was to save power everywhere else in order to reserve it 
for the wings ; except for this it might have been enabled to 
stand on as small a base as man. This difference illustrates very 
strongly the purpose of bringing about the same end by very 
different means according to the place the animal is to fill in 
creation. The same bodily posture, which in man is accomplished 
by a great outlay of muscular strength, is in the bird accomplished 
by very little ; and yet for its purpose accomplished equally well. 

The objects of the structure of these parts may be still further 
illustrated and confirmed by what we observe of the size of the 
foot in different birds. Where the flight is limited or scarcely 
exists at all, the foot is small in extent, but the limb is large and 
strong. The muscular force not needed by the wings is trans- 
ferred to the legs, and these birds are good walkers. Now this 
greater power in the legs enables them to balance themselves, 
like man, on a smaller foot, — and a small foot, it is obvious, 
answers for running and walking much better than a large and 
wide-spreading one. Thus in the ostrich, which flies not at all, 
but is one of the swiftest of animals on foot, the claws are only two, 
and quite short, while the leg and thigh are very large and power- 
ful, at the same time that the wings are but partially developed. 
The same provision for violent muscular action existing in the 
respiration of birds, which gives to many birds their great and 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 93 

enduring power of flight, enables the ostrich to run so swiftly 
and so long. The power is in the one case directed to the wings, 
in the other to the legs. 

These considerations show how it is that Nature has contrived 
to convert, as it were, the quadruped which can only walk, run, 
and leap, into the bird which is able to fly ; and it is impossi- 
ble to look at a bird upon the wing, and reflect upon the prodi- 
gious natural difficulties which it surmounts with such apparent 
ease, without emotions of wonder and almost of awe. The 
wonder indeed is greater, and the skill is greater, than if the 
animal had been made upon an entirely new plan, and not by a 
modification of that on which others are constructed. We can 
conceive that an animal adapted for flying might have been con- 
structed upon a plan which avoided some, at least, of the difficul- 
ties that are surmounted in birds. It might, for example, have 
been made of a substance much lighter than quadrupeds, and 
have been, like fish, of nearly the same specific gravity with the 
medium in which it was to move. This would have called for a 
far less expense of power in order to the performance of its 
functions. But in this case the bird would not have corresponded 
with the creation in which it was placed ; and would have afforded 
a less striking illustration of the plan pursued in the creation of 
the universe. 

In connection with other circumstances which adapt birds for 
their peculiar mode of locomotion, we find that their covering 
. is by no means an unimportant particular. Instead of hair, as 
in quadrupeds, their skin is generally covered with a growth of 
feathers ; and the wings, especially, with those of a great size and 
strength, for the purpose of striking the air with sufficient force 
to raise them from the earth and bear them on in their flight. 
It is not necessary to describe so familiar an object as a quill. It 
is only necessary to remark that it combines strength with light- 
ness in a most remarkable degree, and thus, without adding to 
weight, provides at once a covering and an instrument of motion. 
There are various other particulars relative to the structure and 
economy of Birds which will be hereafter dwelt upon in connec- 
tion with other subjects. The scientific arrangement of this class 
is founded on a reference to a great many particulars in the 



94 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



structure and configuration of the bill, the head, wings, and feet. 
The most generally understood is that which divides it into six 
orders. These are : — 

I. Accipitres, or Birds of Prey. These correspond, in some 
respects, to the carnivorous animals among quadrupeds. They 
are distinguished by their strong, hooked beaks, and their 
crooked and powerful talons, by means of which they are en- 
abled to prey upon other birds, and upon some of the smaller 
quadrupeds and reptiles. They are divided into the diurnal 
and the nocturnal. The diurnal include the vultures, eagles, 
falcons, hawks, buzzards, and kites. The vultures are heavy 
and ferocious, feeding principally upon carrion. They are so vo- 
racious, and fill themselves to such an extent, that they become 
quite stupid and inactive. The eagles, falcons, &c, prefer living 
animals for their food, and do not prey upon carrion, unless 
driven to it by hunger. The number of their species is very 
great, and they are observed to vary considerably in their plu- 
mage, according to age and other circumstances. The females 
are generally a third part larger than the males, and are likewise 
superior in beauty of shape and plumage. Hence the latter have 
been often called tercets, or thirds, from their inferiority in size. 

These birds are gener- 
ally fierce and difficult to 
tame, but in former days, 
the hawk and the falcon 
were educated with great 
care, and trained so as to 
be employed as assistants 
in hunting. 

The nocturnal birds of 
prey include only the dif- 
ferent species of owl. They 
are destitute of the dignity 
and beauty which distin- 
guish the diurnal. They 
have large heads, which 
are sometimes surmounted with feathers that give them the ap- 
pearance of being horned. Their eyes are very large, and, unlike 



Fig. 23. 




Eagle. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



95 




Great Horned Owl. 



those of most other birds, are directed forwards, and surrounded 
by a rim or circle of projecting feathers. This structure is cal- 
culated to admit so much light, that the full rays of the sun 
dazzle and blind them ; and they are capable of seeing well only 
in the twilight or evening. The owls rig. 24. 

are awkward and elumsy in their motions, 
and their wings are too short and weak 
for long flight. They prey upon mice 
and other small quadrupeds, upon birds 
and insects. 

II. Passer es, or Sparrows, form the 
most extensive and numerous order, em- 
bracing a very great variety of species, 
which differ so much among themselves, 
as to be hardly capable of an intelligible 
description, common to them all. To 
this order belong those species which are 
most celebrated for the sweetness and 
harmony of their notes ; and in general 
the organ of voice is in them larger and better formed than in 
any others. Among them are some that have a sharp, pointed 
beak, and feed upon insects, such as the blackbird, the robin, the 
nightingale, and the 
linnet ; and others with 
a short, flat beak, and 
w T ide mouth, which en- 
able them to catch and 
swallow insects, while 
upon the wing. These 
migrate during the win- 
ter ; among them being 
the swallow, the mar- 
tin, and the salangane, 
a species whose nests, 
made of a gelatinous 
substance, supposed to 
be the spawn of fishes, have been celebrated for their nutritious 

Some of this order have a strong, con- 




Nightingale. 



and restorative qualities. 



96 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

ical beak, feed upon seeds, and devour great quantities of culti- 
vated grain, as the lark, the titmouse, the yellow-hammer ; and 
some are larger birds, as the crow and the magpie, which feed 
also in part upon grain, but are fond of flesh, and will sometimes 
take and destroy mice and other small animals. 

The Birds of Paradise and the Humming-Birds are also of 
this order. The former have been noted for the splendor of 
their plumage, and the profusion of long feathers with which 
different parts of their bodies are adorned. It was formerly 
believed that they were destitute of feet, and never alighted 
upon the earth, but were always supported in the air by their 
long plumage. This mistake was caused by the mode of pre- 
paring them for sale adopted by the natives of the countries they 
inhabit, who always deprived them of their feet and wings. 

The Humming-Birds are the smallest of the class, and at 
the same time among the most beautiful. Their necks are 
clothed with small scale-like feathers of a peculiar structure, and 
of a brilliancy in some almost equal to that of precious stones. 
They have a long and slender beak, and a long tongue divided 
into two filaments, with which they suck the juices of flowers. 
They feed also upon insects. Their wings are exceedingly 
powerful in proportion to the size of their bodies, and they fly, 
comparatively, more rapidly than any other bird. They have 
the faculty of balancing themselves, by means of their wings, as 
easily as some insects, and are thus enabled to remain stationary 
in the air, whilst they thrust their beaks into flowers, to , possess 
themselves of the contents. The rapid motion of their wings 
occasions the buzzing or humming noise with which their flight 
is accompanied. The smallest species of humming-bird is found 
in South America and some of the West Indian islands. It does 
not exceed an inch and a quarter from the extremity of its beak 
to that of its tail. 

III. Sca?isores, or Climbers. This order includes those birds 
that have the external toe upon each side turned backward. 
This enables them to grasp substances more firmly with their 
claws, and affords them a more sure support than other birds. 
This structure adapts them for climbing, as they can cling with 
considerable force to the rough bark and branches of trees. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



97 



Fig. 26. 



All birds with this form of the feet are of this order, although, 
strictly speaking, all of them do not climb, whilst some, belonging 
to others, and without this provision, do. 

The birds of this order often build their nests in the holes of 
decayed trees. Their food consists of insects, fruits, or seeds. 
Among them are the woodpecker, the cuckoo, the toucan, and 
the parrot. 

The Woodpeckers are strongly charac- 
terized by a long, straight, angular beak, 
narrowed into a wedge at its extremity, and 
thus fitted for piercing and splitting open the 
bark of trees ; and by a long and slender 
tongue, covered towards its tip with spines 
or bristles, which are turned backwards, and 
coated with a thick, viscid secretion. They 
run in every direction around the trunks 
and branches of trees, striking them with 
their beaks, and thrusting their tongues into 
the holes and clefts they find in the bark, 
for the purpose of drawing out worms and 
the larvse of insects, which constitute their 

Canadian Woodpecker. 

food. 

The Toucan is principally remarkable for the enormous size 
of its beak, which is almost as large and as long as its whole 
body. It is of a light, cellular structure, and furnished with a 
long tongue, straight, and armed on each side with barbs like 
a feather. The toucans live in small flocks in the warm parts 
of America. "When they have seized their food, they throw it 
into the air, and catch it with their beaks, in order to swallow it 
with more ease, as they are incapable of masticating it. 

IV. Gallinacece, the Gallinaceous birds. Of this order are 
the peacock, the turkey, the common fowl, the pheasant, the 
partridge, the quail, and the pigeon. Among them are nearly all 
those birds which have been domesticated, and are raised in 
poultry yards. Their wings are short and weak, and of course 
they are not constructed for long-continued flight ; but they are 
capable of running with considerable rapidity. They have a 
large crop and a very powerful gizzard, their food consisting 
5 




98 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



principally of hard grain. Their flesh in general furnishes excel- 
lent food. The males are distinguished by a stately gait, and 
frequently by a tail ornamented with long feathers. They do 
not all live in pairs ; their eggs are very numerous, and are laid 
in nests built of chaff or straw upon the ground. Their young 
are generally able to run about as soon as hatched. 

The Pigeons form in 
some particulars an excep.- 
tion to the general charac- 
teristics of the gallinaceous 
birds, and approach to a 
resemblance to the Pas- 
seres. They fly very well, 
live in pairs, build their 
nests upon trees or in the 
clefts of rocks, and produce 
seldom more than two eggs 
at once. Their young are 
at first nourished by a sub- 
stance brought up from 
the crop of the parent, 
supposed by some to be the food partially digested, and by others 
a peculiar secretion from the organ, analogous to the milk of 
mammiferous animals ; probably it is a mixture of them both. 
The most remarkable species among them is the crowned pigeon 
of the Molucca islands, which is equal in size to a turkey. Its 
voice is exceedingly loud and harsh, and is said to have 
frightened sailors, who landed on the islands it inhabits, by its 
resemblance to the yells of the savage natives. 

V. Grattce, the Waders, otherwise called Shore Birds. They 
are distinguished by their very long and naked legs, which 
permit them to wade to a considerable depth in the water 
without wetting their feathers. The length of their neck and 
beak corresponds to that of their legs, and they are consequently 
able to search in the sand and mud at the bottom of the water 
for their food, which consists of fishes, reptiles, and worms. All 
birds with this structure of the legs are ranked among the 
Grallae, although some of them are not, properly speaking, 




Passenger Pigeon. 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



99 




waders in their habits. To this order belong the ostrich, cas- 
sowary, flamingo, heron, 
spoonbill, plover, rail, wood- 
cock, ox-eye, yellow-leg. The 
greater part of them are 
possessed of strong wings, 
and fly well, but the ostrich 
and^ cassowary, as is well 
known, are striking excep- 
tions. They are almost in- 
capable of flight, but run 
with immense rapidity. The 
ostrich inhabits the sandy 
deserts of Africa, attains to 
a height varying from six 
to eight feet, and is at once 
the most lofty of birds, and 
the swiftest of all animals. 
When chased, it annoys its 
pursuers by throwing up gravel and stones behind it with its 
feet. 

VI. Anseres, the Web-footed birds. 
Their toes are connected together by 
a web or membrane, which fits them 
for being used as oars. Indeed, the 
whole structure of these birds is 
such as to adapt them for swimming. 
Their legs are situated far back up- 
on their bodies ; their feathers are 
thick, smooth, and oily, and the 
skin beneath covered by a layer of 
close down, which effectually pro- 
tects them from the contact of the 
water. Their necks are of consid- 
erable length, — a provision which 
enables them, while swimming upon 
the surface of the water, to plunge 
their heads down to the bottom in 



American Flamingo. 



Fig. 29. 




Wild Goose. 



100 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

search of food. Most of them are capable of a lofty and long- 
continued flight, as the pelican, petrel, cormorant, albatross, swan, 
wild goose and duck ; whilst others, from the shortness of their 
wings, can scarcely raise themselves into the air, but are princi- 
pally confined to the surface of the water, as the sea-diver, guille- 
mot, penguin, and the auk. 

There are some points of comparison between the several orders 
of Birds which are worthy of notice in connection with the views 
that have been already presented, and which serve further to 
illustrate them. The Accipitres (Fig. 23), for example, require 
great strength in the head, neck, and claws. These are accord- 
ingly short ; for were the neck long, like that of most birds, with 
a large and strong head at the end of it, it would require an undue 
proportion of muscular power to manage it. The same is true 
of the claws and legs. They are short or they could not have 
been strong ; and in seizing and carrying away their prey they 
derive a great advantage from the mechanical contrivance for- 
merly alluded to, which fixes them involuntarily to the roost while 
sleeping. When an eagle seizes his prey and wishes to rise with 
it into the air, he draws the body downward on the legs. This 
occasions the firm grasping of it by his talons, and he thus lifts 
and carries it off* without any special care. 

With the Accipitres may be contrasted the Waders, Grallse, or 
Shore Birds. These are also birds of prey, but of so different a 
kind that they require a different structure. Their prey consists 
of animals that make little resistance and require no great strength 
to conquer, namely, animals inhabiting the water. They agree 
with the Accipitres in their great powers of wing, but stand at the 
opposite end of the scale in the conformation of their feet, legs, 
and neck. These are long, enabling them to wade in the water 
and then seize on their food at the bottom. The Accipitres require 
strength, without length of neck and legs, the Waders, length 
without great strength, in order to secure the prey on which they 
respectively feed. But although the Waders do not require strength 
to seize on their prey, they do need a power of standing for a 
long time in order to watch for it. Were this done by muscular 
power, their limbs must have been large and heavy, and thus 
the balance necessary to flight be destroyed. To avoid this there 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



101 




Heron. 



is a simple contrivance at the knee- 
joint, by which the bones are as it 
were bolted together. They can 
thus stand a long time, even on one 
leg, without fatigue ; and sometimes, 
when standing on one foot in the 
water, they hold a stone in the claws 
of J:he other to steady themselves 
against the motion of the waves. 

Strength for standing can thus be 
given, but not strength for moving. 
Hence in the ostriches and casso- 
waries — which are like the Waders 
in their general shape, but differ en- 
tirely in their habits, being inten- 
ded to run instead of flying — the 
legs are not only very long but also 
very strong and large and endowed 
with an immense quantity of muscular substance. 

These form a link between the Waders and the Gallinaceous 
birds, the peacock, turkey, and common fowl. In these the 
powers of motion are more equally distributed between the wings 
and legs, though the advantage is in many in favor of the latter, 
especially when domesticated. But in the Passeres or Sparrow 
tribe, who are both good flyers and good walkers, but not remark- 
able in either respect, — though to this there are some exceptions, 
— there is a more equal division of power. Among the Climbers, 
too, the powers are very equally divided ; but in the Palmipedes 
or web-footed birds a very different arrangement is necessary in 
the relative construction of the neck and legs. 

The neck is longer than the legs and sometimes very much 
longer, and the latter are placed very far back in the body for the 
convenience of swimming. The long neck answers the same 
purpose as in the Waders, namely, to enable them to seek their 
prey at the bottom of shallow waters, over which, however, they 
swim, instead of wading through. In proportion as they are more 
perfectly adapted for swimming they are less so for walking, but 
not for flying, because the apparatus for flying is not interfered 



102 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



Fig. 31. 



with by the provision for swimming, whilst that for walking is. 
Hence they are notoriously awkward on land, though they are 
capable, many of them, of long flight, and move with great beauty 
and grace upon the water. They find it extremely difficult in 
walking to preserve their balance, and are only enabled to do so 
by throwing the body back upon the heels and arching the neck 
backward, so as to bring the weight of the head but little in 
advance of the body. 

In consequence of their pecu- 
liarities of structure, some of the 
birds of this order can maintain 
themselves sn land only in a sort 
of erect posture, — not like the galli- 
naceous birds on the toes, but by 
throwing themselves backward and 
resting upon the whole of the shank. 
They can hardly move upon land at 
all, and do not even have the power 
of flight, their motions being almost 
exclusively confined to the water, 
where, however, they swim and 
dive with great perfection, their 
stumps of w r ings serving the pur- 
pose of oars. Such are the guille- 
mots and auks. 




Auk. 



SECTION III. 



CLASS III. REPTILES. 



The class of Reptiles, including the tortoises, lizards, serpents, 
toads, and frogs, have cold blood, and a circulation and respira- 
tion less perfect than those of the preceding classes. In Reptiles, 
only a part of the blood received from the body by the heart is 
sent to the lungs, to be subjected to the influence of the air ; 
whilst the remainder, having been mixed with a portion which 
has undergone the change that takes place in respiration, is 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



103 



returned again into the circulation. The first three orders of the 
animals of this class have two auricles to the heart, but only one 
ventricle : into the left auricle, the red blood from the lungs is 
poured, and into the right, the black blood from the body. From# 
the auricles, the two kinds of blood are immediately transferred 
to the ventricle, ivhere they are mixed together ; and this min- 
gled mass is, by the contraction of the ventricle, sent through 
two distinct vessels, in part to the lungs, and in part to the body. 
The vessels of Reptiles, then, are not filled with pure red blood, 
like those of the Mammalia and Birds, but with an imperfect 
fluid, not so well adapted to give them a high degree of life and 
vigor. Hence, as the animal heat is always in proportion to the 
quantity of respiration, they are cold-blooded. Their lungs are 
not so large ; their circulation is more languid ; they consume less 
air, and are capable of living for a longer time without it. They 
are, in general, sluggish and indolent in their habits of life, 
obtuse in their sensations, and slow in their digestion. In cold 

Tig. 32. 




Skeleton of Tortoise. 

In this figure, the lower shell is removed so as to display the principal parts of the in- 
ternal skeleton. 

vc, vertebrae of the neck ; vd, of the back ; c, ribs ; cs, sternal ribs or marginal 
pieces of the carapace; o, scapula; cZ, clavicle; co, coracoid bone; b, pelvis; f t femur; 
t, tibia; p, fibula. 



104 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

countries, they pass the greater part of the winter in a dormant 
state. Their brain is small, and their nervous system imperfect 
and of less influence than in the preceding classes. They pro- 
duce their young by means of eggs, but take no pains themselves 
to hatch them. They have less intelligence, fewer faculties, and 
less instinct, than either quadrupeds or birds. They are arranged 
in four orders. 

I. Chelo?iia, the Tortoises, are distinguished by the peculiar 
structure of their ribs, sternum, and vertebrae. These are so 
arranged as to form a complete covering, consisting of an upper 
and under shell, joined together at their sides ; which permits only 
their head, tail, and four extremities, to be extended without it. 
The upper shell is formed by the extension and enlargement of 
the ribs and part of the backbone, and the lower shell by an alter- 
ation in the form of the sternum ; called respectively the carapace 
and plastron. These parts are, however, covered by a substance 
of a horny texture, known familiarly as tortoise or turtle shell, 
and entirely different from bone in its nature and texture. Their 
other bones are not essentially different from those of other verte- 
bral animals. Thus a part of their skeleton is, in fact, on the out- 
side of their bodies. They have no teeth ; but their jaws are 
armed with a tough, horny substance, which supplies their place. 
Their stomach is simple and strong ; their intestines are long, and 
they are capable of going a great length of time without food. All 
the various species of the tortoise and turtle belong to this order. 

II. Sauria, the Lizards. This order includes a very con- 
siderable variety, among which are the crocodile, the alligator, the 
chameleon, the true lizards, and the dragons. The greater part 
of them have four feet, but a few are possessed of only two. 
They have nails and teeth, and their skin is covered with scales. 

The Crocodile is the most celebrated animal of this order. It 
is from twenty to thirty feet in length, including the tail, and is 
covered with a coat of scales, which, on the back, form an armor 
proof against a bullet, and have an appearance like that of carved 
work. It deposits its eggs in the sand, where the greater part of 
them are destroyed by birds and an animal called the ichneumon. 
Their eggs resemble, a good deal, those of the domestic goose, and 
are of about the same size ; the young, when first hatched, are of 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 105 

course very small when compared with the parent animal. They 
are at first mild and innocent, and may be handled with impunity ; 
but the full-grown animal is both subtle and formidable. It lies in 
wait, covered from view amidst long grass, rushes, or projecting 
banks of rivers, until some animal comes within its reach, which 
it seizes and swallows, and then retires to some secret recess to 
digest. 

The Dragons are remarkable for the possession of a sort of 
wings, produced by the extension of the first six false ribs, which 
support a fold of the skin. These serve, like a parachute, to up- 
hold them in leaping to the ground from any height, or in spring- 
ing from branch to branch on the trees they inhabit ; but are not 
sufficiently large or powerful to enable them to raise themselves 
from the earth. 

Fig. 33. 




Flying Dragon. 

To Chameleons has been attributed the singular faculty of 
changing the color of their skin, according to the color of the 
substance on which they are placed, and of subsisting upon air. 
This belief has arisen from the extraordinary size of their lungs, 
which they are capable of distending with air to such an enor- 
mous extent as to fill nearly their whole body and render their 
skin somewhat transparent. Hence they were said to feed upon 
air. In this state of distention and semi-transparency, the skin 
becomes easily affected by every change in the circulation ; and 
consequently a change of color is produced by the varying wants 
and passions of the animal, which influence both the quantity of 
respiration and the tint of the blood. 
5* 



106 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

A few animals of the lizard kind are remarkable for their 
very short legs and long slender bodies, giving them the ap- 
pearance of serpents with feet, for which they have sometimes 
been mistaken. 

III. Ophidia, the Serpents, are distinguished by their long 
and slender bodies without limbs, and by the great extensibility 
of their jaws, mouth, and throat, which enables them often to 
swallow animals of greater diameter than themselves. They are 
always provided with teeth, which are sharp and bent backwards. 

Among them, as is well known, are the venomous and those 
that are not venomous. The number of the latter kind is the 
greatest, and includes the largest animals. Among them are the 
great boa-constrictor, the aboma, and the anaconda, which some- 
times attain the length of thirty or forty feet, and inhabit marshy 
and fenny places in the tropical parts of America. They attach 
themselves by the tail to the branches of trees, leaving their 
bodies swinging in the air, in order to seize upon animals ap- 
proaching them, which they generally swallow whole. The Ular 
Sawa, or the great Python, is another serpent of the same kind 
and* size, and inhabits the ancient continent. The smaller and 
less celebrated species are very numerous, and are distributed 
over every part of the earth. 

The venomous serpents are armed with pointed fangs, for 
the specific purpose of infusing poison into the wounds they 
inflict. These are situated in the upper jaw, and perforated by 
a small canal, which, opening on their extremities, gives passage 
to a fluid secreted by a gland under the eye. When the tooth 
pierces the flesh of any animal, a portion of this fluid is injected 
into the opening, and produces effects more or less dangerous, ac- 
cording to the virulence of the poison and the kind of animal 
wounded. When broken or injured, these fangs are renewed, 
and when not employed, are hidden from sight by a fold or pro- 
jection of the gum. The largest and most celebrated of these 
animals is the rattlesnake of America. It is so called from a 
peculiar instrument at the end of its tail, denominated its rattle, 
which produces a slight rustling sound when it is shaken, and is 
intended to give warning of the animal's anger. This and the 
other venomous serpents are not malignant or ferocious in their 



VEKTEBRAL ANIMALS. 



107 



dispositions, and seldom make use of their poison unless pro- 
voked. 

IV. Batrachia. The reptiles of this order have only one 
auricle to the heart, into which the veins from the lungs and 
from the body both enter. In it are included the toad, frog, 
salamander, and other similar animals. They are principally 
remarkable for a transformation which takes place in their off- 
spring after leaving the egg. When first hatched, they are 
strictly aquatic, and capable of breathing and living only under 
water. They are furnished with gills like a fish, and have no 
legs, but are provided with a tail, which serves them as an in- 
strument of locomotion. In this state they are seen by thou- 
sands, of a dark color, with round bodies, swimming about in 
brooks and small ponds ; and are known by the familiar name 
of tadpoles. After a certain period, their form and structure 
are altered : their feet and legs grow, and project from beneath 
the skin ; their tail, their gills, and the covering of the head, 
fall off ; they begin to respire by means of lungs ; and become, 
at length, animals capable of breathing only in the air. This 
transformation is not, however, in all cases complete. In several 
genera, the proteus, the siren, 
and some others, besides lungs, 
the gills are retained through 
life, and they are thus pos- 
sessed of tw,o distinct sets of 
organs of respiration. 

These form a link between 
reptiles and fishes ; and in 
one of them, the lepidosiren, it 
has been difficult for natural- 
ists to satisfy themselves to 
which class the animal be- 
longs. 



Fig. 34. 




Lepidosiren. 



108 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

SECTION IV. 
CLASS. IV. FISHES. 

In studying animals with a view to understand the relations 
of their structure to their mode of life, Fishes form an object of 
much interest, since, like Birds, they live in a medium in which 
they are supported, and through which they make their way by 
the action of their limbs, whilst the Mammalia and Reptiles are 
chiefly designed for a residence and motion upon a solid basis. 
But as there is a great difference in the density of the mediums 
in which Birds and Fishes respectively move, so is there a great dif- 
ference in the provisions of structure by which they are adapted 
to them. Birds move through air, which is many times lighter 
than their bodies ; Fishes through water, which is of about the 
same specific gravity with theirs. The principal labor of birds 
is to raise and keep their bodies in the air. Progressive motion 
requires little additional force, because the air presents little re- 
sistance. But in fishes the condition of things is exactly opposite. 
They require very little effort to keep themselves suspended in 
the water, whilst this fluid offers a considerable resistance to 
their progressive motion. In the bird then, as we have seen, the 
peculiarities of structure are chiefly devoted to overcoming the 
force of gravity. In the fish, they are chiefly devoted to over- 
coming the resistance of the water to progressive motion. 

But in birds the amount of muscular power required for the 
maintenance of their peculiar function is very great, whilst in 
fish it is comparatively small. Their shape is such, and their 
organs of motion so arranged, as to overcome the resistance 
of the water with the smallest possible muscular power. If we 
compare the organs of motion in the two classes, we find a 
striking difference in their extent. The fin and tail are the chief 
in fish. They expose a very small surface compared with that of 
the whole body ; probably not a quarter part. But the wings of 
birds of long flight present perhaps twenty times the surface of 
that of theirs. This remarkable difference in the position and 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 109 

relations of these classes, might be followed out in much detail, 
and we should everywhere find the same exact correspondence 
between them and the structure by which they are accompa- 
nied. 

It was formerly pointed* out that where there was a great 
amount of muscular power, this was to be supported by a cor- 
responding energy of respiration and circulation. For the same 
reason, where there is a low degree of muscular power, a lower 
energy in these functions will accompany it. Accordingly, Fish 
have a far less energetic and complete system of circulation and 
respiration than Mammalia and Birds. Their heart has but a 
single auricle which receives the blood from the body, and a 
single ventricle which then sends it to the gills or organs of res- 
piration. When returned from the gills, it is collected into one 
large vessel, not terminating in a heart as in Mammalia and Birds, 
but assuming the office of an artery, and distributing its contents 
to the whole body. 

The gills are vascular bodies, situated on each side of the neck, 
w r ith whose appearance most persons are sufficiently familiar. 
Just between them is the single heart, which after receiving the 
venous blood from the body, circulates it through them. A cur- 
rent of water is made to pass constantly over their surface, and 
to the air in this water the blood is exposed, and undergoes the 
same change as that which is effected in the lungs of the pre- 
ceding classes, 

This motion goes on as regularly as the action of the chest in 
respiration, and the current of water may be readily observed in 
the goldfishes that are confined in glass vessels. Any interrup- 
tion of it is attended by the same fatal consequences as a suspen- 
sion of the admission of air into the lungs, and if it be arrested 
by mechanical closure of the gill-opening, the animal falls into 
convulsions and soon dies. 

The skeleton of Fish departs more from the original model of 
the vertebral animals than that of either of the preceding classes. 
The vertebral column, however, is still the basis of the whole. 
There is a bony cranium for the brain, and the same senses are 
performed by organs situated in and around it, as in the higher 
animals. 



110 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

The bones which support the fins correspond also to the four 
extremities. The pectoral to the upper, and the abdominal to 
the lower. There are, also, others, varying in different species ; 

Fig. 35. . 



Skeleton of Fish. 

but, with the exception of the caudal or tail fin, they serve rather 
to balance and regulate the position and motions of the animal, 
than to move it forward. In the tail and its fin is concentrated a 
great share of the muscular power of the body, and with this, as 
in a boat moved by a single oar, as in sculling, progressive motion 
is chiefly effected. 

An organ called the air-bag, or swimming-bladder, exists in a 
majority of fishes, but not in all. It is situated in the cavity 
of the body just underneath the spine. It is filled with air con- 
taining nitrogen and oxygen, but not in the same proportions as 
in that of the atmosphere. These proportions are found to vary 
according to the depth at which the animal resides. Those near 
the surface have more nitrogen, and those from deep water more 
oxygen. The cause and purpose of this difference has not been 
sufficiently explained. 

This structure seems to have some connection with the moving 
powers of the animal, yet its precise function is not perfectly 
understood. It is commonly supposed that by the compressionor 
expansion of the air in this sack, the animal is enabled to rise or 
sink without any muscular effort, by the mere variation thus pro- 
duced in its specific gravity. This view has seemed to be con- 
firmed by the fact that if the air-bag be punctured the animal 



VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. Ill 

sinks to the bottom and cannot rise again, and that certain 
species which inhabit chiefly the bottom of the water, as the flat- 
fishes, sole, flounder, &c, and those of the ray and skate kind, are 
destitute of the organ. 

But there are other circumstances which throw some doubt upon 
this view of its function. Some species living for the most part 
at the bottom, as the eel, have it, and others capable of a great 
variety of motion, at all depths, have it not, as the shark and 
mackerel. It is obvious, too, that, even were a fish able to de- 
scend by condensing the air in its bag so as to increase its 
specific gravity, when arrived at the bottom the pressure of the 
water would prevent entirely such a dilatation of it as would di- 
minish that gravity, so as to enable it again to reach the surface. 
So, too, when fish remain . near the surface in a warm day, the 
confined air becomes so rarefied that they cannot descend ; and 
on the other hand, when drawn up from a great depth, the sud- 
den removal of the pressure to which they have been subjected 
produces a similar expansion, so as in some instances to force the 
stomach out of the mouth, by the distention of the air-bag. 
Both these facts are incompatible with such a power of dilatation 
and contraction on the part of this organ as the office attributed 
to it requires. 

There are thus objections which seem insurmountable to the 
ordinary explanation of the use of the air-bag. Is it not worthy 
of inquiry whether it may not be intended to keep the body of 
the fish in which it is found in a vertical position, with the back 
upward ? The greater number of Fishes are of so compressed a 
shape that from simple physical causes they would take a posi- 
tion on the side, or if the abdomen be lighter than the back, 
upon the back. In fact it is stated by Cuvier, that, if the air- 
bag be punctured, the animal will turn upon its back, and can 
assume no other position. The air-bag, then, may be intended to 
answer the purpose of ballast. A light body placed above the 
centre of gravity will answer the same purpose as a heavy body 
placed belpw it. Thus it corresponds in its purpose to the keel- 
shaped projection of the sternum in Birds, and the heavy mass 
of flesh attached to it, which serve in them to keep the body 
properly balanced beneath the wings. There is another view 



112 VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. 

taken of the uses of this organ, which considers it as supplement- 
ary to those of respiration, and as giving aid in the aeration of 
the blood. Even were this so, it would not necessarily exclude 
the exercise of the office above attributed to it ; since there are* 
other instances in which Nature avails herself of the presence of 
an organ intended for one function, to assist in the performance 
of another, — as the lungs, though mainly intended for the intro- 
duction of air for the service of the blood, also contribute in 
a secondary manner to the production of the voice. 

Fishes have a thick, strong skin, which in many is of a hard, 
bony structure, but in the larger proportion is covered with 
scales, which are arranged one upon another in an imbricated 
form, like slates or shingles on the roof of a house. Their bodies 
are also invested with a covering of thin mucus, or slime, which 
defends them from the immediate contact of the water. Their 
forms vary exceedingly, and are much more numerous than those 
of the animals heretofore described. They vary also in size. 
Some are armed with strong, sharp spines ; some with a sword 
or saw ; and most of them with teeth. The latter, however, are 
not intended for the purpose of chewing, but merely for that of 
seizing and retaining prey, which is swallowed whole. A few 
are possessed of a very remarkable species of defence, which 
oonsists in the power of inflicting upon whatever living creature 
comes in contact with them, an electrical shock. 

Fishes have but a small brain. They have the senses of 
seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting. That of touch they prob- 
ably possess but imperfectly, as they have no organ which seems 
intended for its exercise, except the snout and mouth, and in 
some species, a sort of feelers, growing around the mouth. 
Their skeleton is constructed of bones, softer and less earthy 
than those of other animals, and indeed in some they are entirely 
cartilaginous. Their stomach and intestines are formed upon 
the same general plan with those of the other vertebrals, and 
digestion is carried on in the same general way. They feed 
principally upon other fishes, upon worms, and shell-fish. They 
are long-lived, attain to their full growth slowly, and exhibit but 
few signs of intelligence or remarkable instinct. 

Their constant residence in the water prevents that accurate 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 113 

knowledge of their character and habits of life, which would 
afford materials for a more copious detail. They are divided 
into orders and genera, according to certain differences in the 
formation, structure, and situation of their mouth, gills, gill- 
covering, fins, &c. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SECOND BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. ARTICULATA, 

OR ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 

Of the classification of this and the two other grand divisions 
of the animal kingdom, it will not be necessary to give a de- 
tailed account, since, with the exception of the class of Insects, 
the principal illustrations of our subject will be derived from the 
Vertebrata. 

This class, — namely Insects, — constitutes one of the most in- 
teresting in the whole living creation. The number of distinct 
species is probably as great as that of all other animals put 
together. As we shall have occasion to see hereafter, we find 
among them the most remarkable exemplifications of directing 
instinct. At the same time they are of the utmost importance in 
various ways in carrying out the purposes of Providence in the 
great scheme of Nature. 

Insects are destitute of a heart, but instead of it they have a 
canal or reservoir situated along the back, extending from one 
end of their bodies to the other, and filled with a transparent, 
viscous fluid. This undergoes an irregular contraction, which 
is supposed to be analogous to the contractions of a heart. 
But there is still no such regular system of vessels connected 
with it as exists in the preceding classes. We cannot, however, 
doubt that this reservoir is supplied with its contents from the 
digestive organs, and that it sends them by its contraction to all 
parts of the body. Insects have no particular organ for respira- 
tion, but their bodies are penetrated in all directions by tubes, 



114 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



called tracheal which convey the air to every part. These tubes 
communicate externally by openings called stigmata. The blood, 
therefore, undergoes the changes wrought upon it by air, through- 
out its whole circulation. Instead of a brain and nervous system, 
they are furnished with two knotted cords, running the length of 
their bodies, which perform the same functions. They possess 
the senses of seeing, tasting, smelling, and feeling ; but organs 
of hearing, if they exist, have not yet been certainly recog- 
nized. 

Being destitute of any internal skeleton, Insects are provided 
with a firm external covering, which serves to support their 
motions and protect their organs. The nature of this covering 
differs in different species ; in some it forms a complete shell or 
case of a horny or shell-like substance ; and in others it consists 
merely in a tough, muscular coat, divided into rings, which sur- 
rounds the body. 

The greater part of Insects are winged, but some are not so. 



Fig. 36. 



Head. 



Thorax. 



Abdomen. 




Anatomy of Insects. 



Antennae. 
Eyes. 



First pair of 
legs. 



First pair of 
wings. 

Second pair of 
legs. 



Second pair of 
wings. 



Third pair of 



Tibia or shank. 



Tarsus or foot. 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 115 

Those which are not winged continue, during their whole exist- 
ence, of the same form and structure as at birth. Those which 
are winged undergo certain metamorphoses, or changes of form, 
to be hereafter described. They have six legs, with the excep- 
tion of the millepedes ; these have always more. 

The bodies of Insects are divided into head, trunk, and abdo- 
men. The head is attached to the trunk by a joint or articula- 
tion, mpvable in every direction. It is destitute of a brain, but 
is furnished with a mouth, eyes, and two antennae or feelers. 
These are a kind of filaments, composed of joints, varying much 
in form and length, probably designed as the organs of the sense 
of touch, perhaps of hearing, or of sensations still more delicate, 
but of a nature totally unknown to us. 

The mouth of Insects varies much in its construction, according 
to the nature of their food. Some of them subsist only upon the 
juices of animal and vegetable substances, and have their lips 
arranged in the form of a tube or sucker ; some of them are 
armed with a sort of lancet, with which they are enabled to 
pierce the skin of animals ; some with a kind of beak ; and 
others with a trunk or proboscis, which in the butterflies is 
capable of being rolled up in a spiral form. The insects that 
subsist upon solid substances are provided with jaws, which 
act laterally instead of vertically, and serve to masticate their 
food. Beside these parts, many species are furnished with palpi, 
organs somewhat resembling the antennae in structure and appear- 
ance, but whose office is to bring the food to the mouth, and 
hold it, while the animal eats. 

To the trunk are joined the legs, and the wings when present. 
It is divided, in those that have only six legs, into three seg- 
ments or divisions, to each of which one pair is attached. The 
legs are composed of four parts, called the haunch, thigh, leg 
or shank, and foot ; which resemble somewhat the correspond- 
ing parts in the limbs of quadrupeds. They vary in different 
insects, according to their habits and modes of life. Thus, in 
the grasshopper, the hind pair are very long and strong ; in 
the aquatic insects, they are flattened, in order to answer the 
purpose of oars. The wings differ much in kind and arrange- 
ment, as well as in number. Most of the winged insects 



116 ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 

have four, but some only two. They are generally thin, dry, 
membranaceous, and semi-transparent. In the butterfly the 
membrane forming the wing is concealed by a covering of small 
scales, which appear to be merely a loose powder, but are in fact 
fixed by small pedicles or stalks to the membrane itself. They 
give to those insects their beauty and variety of color. The 
insects with one pair of wings have underneath them two cylin- 
drical projections terminating in a knob, which seem as if they 
were the rudiments of a second pair. These have been called 
balancers or poisers, from being supposed to aid them in preserv- 
ing an equilibrium during their flight. Between them and the 
wings themselves are found small membranous scales, one upon 
each side, against which the balancer strikes with great rapidity 
whilst the insect is in motion, and causes that buzzing which is 
then observed. In the various kinds of beetle and other similar 
insects, the upper pair of wings is of a crustaceous or horny 
texture, and serves merely the purpose of a case under which 
the other pair is folded up and protected. In others, as in the 
grasshopper and the locust, the upper pair is less hard, and has 
rather the consistence and texture of vellum. 

The abdomen forms the hinder part of the bodies of Insects ; 
it contains the organs of digestion, and is the part from which 
their eggs are produced. It is divided into a number of rings or 
segments. In some, it is furnished with a perforator or auger, 
with which various substances are bored in order to admit their 
eggs. In many it is terminated by a sting, as in the wasp and 
bee, and in others by a forceps, a bristle, or a claw. They dis- 
play much instinctive intelligence in the deposition of their eggs, 
placing, them in situations best adapted to the nourishment and 
preservation of their young when hatched, and in some cases 
even providing food for their immediate wants when they first 
come into life. 

The greater part of Insects, as has just been remarked, after 
leaving the egg, undergo certain changes of structure and form, 
before arriving at their perfect state. These changes are called 
their metamorphoses. They differ in number in different kinds 
of insects. 

To take the Butterfly tribe for an example. From the egg 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 117 

of this insect is hatched an animal differing entirely from its par- 
ent. Its body is long and cylindrical, and divided into a great 
many rings. It is provided with a large number of very short 
legs, with jaws, and with several small eyes. It is familiarly 
known to us by the name of caterpillar. It lives in this state a 
considerable time, subsisting upon such food as is adapted to its 
nature. At length it casts off its skin, and appears in another 
form, without limbs. It ceases to feed or to move. It seems to 
be totally without life. This is called the chrysalis. After a 
while, by examining it closely, the imperfect shape of the butter- 
fly may be distinguished through its surface ; and finally the 
envelope is broken, and the animal escapes. Its wings are at 
first weak and moist, but they soon unfold and become strong ; 
and the insect is in a state to fly. It has now six long legs, 
a spiral trunk, two antennae, and eyes differing entirely from 
those of the caterpillar. In short, it is a totally different ani- 
mal ; and yet these wonderful changes are only the successive 
unfolding of parts contained one within another in the original 
embryo. 

In the first state, the animal is called the larva; in the sec- 
ond, the nympha or chrysalis ; the third is called the perfect 
state. 

A considerable proportion of the insect tribes pass through 
these three stages of existence. But many only undergo what 
is called a demi-metamorphosis. The larvae resemble the perfect 
insect, except that they are without wings. And the only change 
they experience is, that in the nymph state they have stumps or 
rudiments of wings, which finally, on casting their skin, are ex- 
changed for complete ones. Such are grasshoppers and many 
kinds of bugs. Insects without wings undergo none of these 
alterations. 

An account of some analogous phenomena occurring in other 
animals will be found in a subsequent part of this volume.* 

There are few vegetable substances which escape the depre- 
dations of Insects ; and sometimes their ravages produce very 
serious evils. Good as well as evil, however, may be attributed 

* See chapter on the Reproduction and Transformation of Animals. 



118 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



to their agency. Many of them feed upon putrid animal or veg- 
etable matters, whose effluvia might otherwise become dangerous 
or fatal. Others are made use of in medicine, in the arts, and 
sometimes even as food for man. They serve as nourishment 
for many species of animals. Beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes, 
equally make them their prey ; and thus prevent their multi- 
plication to such an extent as to prove a permanent evil to 
mankind. 

It only remains to give some general account of the orders 
under which Insects have been arranged, and the principles upon 
which naturalists have proceeded in making the distribution of 
them. 

The following are the divisions of this class into orders as 
established by Linnaeus. They are retained, not as affording a 
sufficiently accurate arrangement for the special study of Ento- 
mology,- but as presenting a more intelligible view of the various 
forms of insect life than the general reader would obtain from 
the more detailed and strictly anatomical methods of modern 
naturalists. They are founded upon the presence or absence of 
wings, their number, their texture, their arrangement, and the 
nature of their surface ; and upon the existence or absence of a 
sting. He forms seven orders. 

I. Coleoptera. The upper pair of wings 
in the Coleopterous insects consist of a 
crustaceous or horny substance. These 
cover and defend the other pair, which 
are of a more soft and flexible texture, 
and are folded beneath them. This is 
the most numerous and best known kind 
of Insects ; and many of them are very 
remarkable for the singularity of their 
forms and the beauty of their colors. It 
includes the various species known under 
the names of beetles, winged bugs, &c. 
They all undergo a complete metamor- 
phosis. 

II. The Hemiptera have likewise four wings ; but the outer 
pair are not of so hard a texture as those of the Coleoptera. 



Fig. 37. 




beetle. 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



119 




They are more like fine vellum, and, at their extremities, 
terminate with a membra- 
nous edge, which resembles 
the substance of the under 
pair. Insects of this order 
undergo only a demi-meta- 
morphosis. Among them 
are found the grasshopper, 

the cricket, the locust, the .r\ ; ^g^^'l^TS^ <2^~ 
cockroach, and many kinds 

n , Grasshopper. 

of bugs. 

III. The order Lepidoptera contains the various kinds of but- 
terfly, sphinx, and moth. Those of the first kind fly in the day- 
time ; those of the two other kinds Fig. 39. 

only in the night. They all have 
four wings, the structure and appear- 
ance of which have been alluded to. 
Among them are some of the most 
beautiful and splendid of insects, and 
they form the richest ornaments of 
the cabinet of the naturalist. They 
all pass through a complete series 
of metamorphoses ; and their larvae, 
known under the name of worms 
or caterpillars, spin webs for their Butterfly. 

covering while^ in the chrysalis state. It is from the web, thus 
prepared by the silkworm for its residence during this dormant 
state of existence, that the silk of commerce is prepared. 

IV. JVeuroptera. This is another order with four wings. They 
are membranaceous, naked, and so interspersed with delicate veins 
that they have the appearance of a beautiful network. The tail 
of the Neuroptera has no sting, but that of the male is fre- 
quently furnished with a kind of forceps or pincers. Of this 
order are the various species of dragon-fly, large and well- 
known insects that frequent lakes and pools of stagnant water, 
in which the female deposits her eggs ; of the ephemera, insects 
which pass two or three years in the states of larva and chrys- 
alis, but whose existence, as winged and perfect insects, is lim- 




120 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



ited to a single day ; the ant-lion, and the termites : the former 
is known as the destroyer of the common ant, and the latter for 



Fig. 40. 




Dragon-fly. 

the ravages they make, in the state of larvse, in some tropical 
countries. The Neuroptera do not all pass through a complete 
metamorphosis, a portion of them undergoing only a partial change 
of form. 

Y. The Hymenoptera have four naked membranaceous wings, 
but they have not that delicate, netted structure which belongs 
to the last order. The bodies of the females are terminated by 
a borer or perforator, or by a sting. These insects all undergo 
a complete metamorphosis. The ant, wasp, and bee belong to 
this order. There are, in the domestic economy and mode of 
propagation of these animals, circumstances which excite our 
admiration and astonishment. They live in societies, greater 
or less in extent and number, and prepare habitations and nour- 
ishment for themselves and their offspring, with a forethought 
and provident care excelled only by those of man himself. In 
some of the tribes of these insects, as among the ants and 
bees, there is, beside the males and females, a third sort, called 
neuters. Sometimes the neuter, and sometimes the female, 
is without wings, and sometimes without a sting. A more 
particular account of their economy will be given hereafter. 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



121 



Fig. 41. 




Honey Bee. Worker. 



Besides the above-mentioned, 
there is found in this order a 
variety of singular animals ; and 
among others, the ichneumon -fly 
and the saw-fly, which, by means 
of their instruments for boring, 
in some constructed in the form 
of a saw, insert their eggs in the 
wood, leaves, and fruit of plants, 
or in the eggs, larvae, or nymphae 
of other insects. 

VI. The Diptera have only two wings, but beneath them are 
the balancers or poisers, which have been already mentioned. 
Their mouths are frequently armed with lancets and suckers, by 
means of which they pierce the skin of animals and feed upon 
their blood. To this order belong some of the most troublesome 
and annoying of the whole animal creation, namely, the various 
species of gnat and gad-fly, the mosquito, the common house-fly, and 
the horse-fly. They attack both men and other animals, and are 
found in almost every part of the Fig. 42. 

globe. Their larvae are depos- 
ited in the skins and intestines 
of brute animals, sometimes even 
in those of men, in putrid meat, 
in cheese, in manure, in water, 
and in mud. ' They pass through 
a complete metamorphosis. 

VII. Aptera. In this order is included a great variety of in- 
sects destitute of wings. It is true that in the preceding orders 
are arranged many sorts of insects which are destitute of wings ; 
but they are so arranged, because, in their general structure and 
habits of life, they resemble the other members of the order. 
The Aptera, however, have no such resemblance, and are there- 
fore placed by themselves. Some naturalists divide them into 
several orders, according to their natural connections with one 
another ; but this is not necessary here. Among them are found 
the centipedes, whose body is divided into a great number of 
rings, each of which serves for the attachment of one or more 

6 




Gad Fly. 



122 



AET1CULATED ANIMALS. 




pairs of legs ; the louse, of which there are many kinds infesting 
TO AO the bodies of men, inferior animals, and 

Fig. 43. ' 

plants ; the puceron, &c. Some of 
these last animals cover the surface of 
plants so completely as to produce 
the appearance of a diseased change 
of structure. The flea also belongs to 
this order. 

The family of the Arachnides, or 
Spiders, is not always arranged among 
Insects, and, strictly speaking, their 
structure is different in some important 
particulars. We shall, however, give 
some account of them in connection 
with the Aptera, among which they 
were included by Linnaeus. This fam- 
ily comprehends, besides the common 
spiders, the scorpion, the tarantula, 
Scorpion. ^e cra b-scorpion, the various species 

of mites, and the animal which has been supposed to cause the 
psora or itch, by insinuating itself beneath the skin. 

They are distinguished from all other insects by the absence 
of the antennas. A part of them breathe like Insects by means 
of tracheae distributed throughout their bodies ; while in the rest, 
the tracheae open into pulmonary sacks, which answer the pur- 
pose of lungs. In the latter, there is found a well-organized 
heart and a vascular circulation, which are absent in the former. 
They have generally eight legs, and are furnished with six or- 
eight eyes, which enable them to perceive objects in several dif- 
ferent directions at once. They are nourished generally by living 
prey, and are provided with means for securing and destroying it. 
The Spider effects this by means of the web that it spins, in the 
construction of which much ingenuity is often manifested. The 
threads of which it is composed, are produced from six small, fleshy 
bunches, situated at the lower extremity of their bodies, which are 
perforated with an immense number of little holes. By means 
of their webs, many species of spiders, particularly when young, 
are able to transport themselves to a considerable distance through 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 123 

the air. In order to effect this, they ascend some eminence, and 
throw out a number of webs ; these are raised up and carried 
along by the wind, and the animal, being buoyed up by them, is 
conveyed sometimes to a great height. In order to alight, they 
have only to disengage themselves from a part of their web, and 
suffer themselves to descend gradually to the ground. It is prob- 
able that they have recourse to this expedient, in part at least, for 
the purpose of catching insects for food. In autumn, the air is 
often full of the cobwebs which have been made use of for this 
singular mode of conveyance; and those who have ascended 
eminences for the purpose of observing this phenomenon, have 
frequently seen spiders floating by in the air, supported in the 
manner just now described. 

Many branches of this family are exceedingly cruel and fero- 
cious, not sparing even their own species. The bite of some of 
them is poisonous, particularly that of the tarantula and the 
scorpion. They undergo no metamorphosis, but shed their skins 
several times. A few receive an additional pair of legs at some 
time after birth. 

The Crustaceous animals constitute another group of the Artic- 
ulata, and have been sometimes included in the class of Insects, 
to which they have indeed many strong points of resemblance. 
They deserve, however, a separate consideration, both on account 
of their general size and importance, and of some anatomical dif- 
ferences of structure, which will be pointed out. Among the most 
familiar examples are the lobster, crab, crawfish, the animal usu- 
ally called the horseshoe, the barnacle, &c. 

They have articulated limbs, antennse, and jaws, similarly 
formed to those of insects, but they breathe by means of branchiae 
or gills, and have a regular double circulation; in which par- 
ticulars they differ from them. The blood which has passed 
through the gills, is collected into one large vessel, that distrib- 
utes it to the whole body. On its return from the vessels of the 
body, it is collected into another vessel situated near the back, 
and performing in some measure the office of a ventricle, and 
is again sent to the gills. Their nervous system, and the degree 
of sensation they enjoy, are not essentially different from those 
of Insects. 




124 ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 

They are covered by a pretty thick, firm shell, which envelops 
them completely. This serves for a shelter and protection to 
their soft parts, and also answers to them the same purpose, as 
an instrument of motion, that the internal system of bones does 
to the vertebral animals. As this shell is incapable of growth, it 
is occasionally changed, to make room for the constant increase 
of the animal in size. It is thrown off, and their bodies remain 
for a time entirely naked, and exposed in a soft and defenceless 
state. In this case the animal generally retires to some place 
TO .. of concealment and secu- 

¥ig. 44. 

rity, and remains till the 
shell is restored. This is 
done by the deposition of 
calcareous matter on the 
external membrane of the 
skin, which consequently 
becomes hard and firm, 
Crab and finally takes the place 

of the old shell. 
The Crustacea have always as many as six claws, and fre- 
quently more. The two anterior ones are often prolonged, en- 
larged, and armed with teeth, so as in some measure to act in 
assisting the jaws. Their antennas, like those of Insects, are prob- 
ably intended to serve as very delicate organs of touch. They 
possess the sense of smelling, but naturalists have not been able 
to satisfy themselves in what organ it resides. The organ of 
hearing has been discovered. Their eyes are not placed loosely 
in a socket, but are fixed and immovable ; and, to remedy the 
inconvenience which would result from this arrangement, they 
are, in some species, situated upon the end of a pedicle or stalk, 
which is capable of motion in every direction. 

The stomach of some of the Crustacea presents a very singular 
and remarkable structure. It is exemplified particularly in the 
crab, lobster, crawfish, and others of the same kind. Near the 
lower end of the organ, where it begins to grow narrow, are sit- 
uated a number of teeth, or substances of a bony nature resem- 
bling teeth, generally five in number. They are placed upon 
opposite sides, and, being moved by muscles belonging to them, 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 125 

thoroughly grind up the food passed between them, which then 
goes out at the orifice into the intestines. 

These animals reside, for the most part, in the water. A few 
are found upon land. The former do not immediately die on 
being taken out of their natural element, but can live for some 
time in the air. They are generally carnivorous. Many of them 
furnish very delicious articles of food, although their flesh is 
sometimes heavy and difficult of digestion. 

The term Vermes or Worms has been used with great vague- 
ness in natural history, and employed to designate animals to 
which the name is not appropriate. It is now, however, more 
restricted in its application, and is made to include only a small 
class, which have some circumstances in common with each of 
the classes last described, but still not exactly resembling any. 
They are sometimes called, by way of distinction, Worms with 
red blood, as they are the only invertebral animals which have red 
blood ; and sometimes Annelida, from the structure of their body, 
which is of a cylindrical, elongated shape, divided into a great 
number of rings. 

Their nervous system resembles that of the Insects and Crus- 
tacea. Their organs of sense consist merely in some fleshy 
tentacula, which surround the mouth, and answer the purpose of 
feeling and touching. In some species, certain black points ap- 
pear around the head, which have been supposed to be eyes, but 
this is doubtful. Their blood is nearly of the color of that of 
the vertebral animals, but not of so bright a red. It circulates 
in a double system of vessels, but there is no distinct, fleshy 
heart to give it motion. They breathe by means of branchiae, 
which are sometimes within and sometimes without their bodies. 
They have no limbs, but on each of the rings of which their 
bodies are composed, are little bristly projections, which answer 
in some sort the purpose of feet. Their mouths are sometimes 
armed with jaws, and sometimes consist in a mere tube or 
sucker. 

Their bodies are soft and compressible. Nearly all inhabit 
the water. Many of them bury themselves in the sand ; others 
form themselves a sort of tube or habitation of sand, bits of 
dirt, gravel, or other materials ; and others exude from their 



126 ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 

surfaces a calcareous matter, which produces a shell around 
them. 

Among the animals belonging to this class are the earth-worm, 
the leech, and the hair-worm. 

The appearance of Earth-worms is familiar to all. They at- 
tain sometimes to the length of a foot, and have as many as a 
hundred and twenty rings, each of which is furnished with the 
little bristles or spines above mentioned. They emit through 
certain pores a slimy fluid, which lubricates their bodies, and 
thus gives them an easier passage through the earth, which they 
traverse in every direction. They feed upon roots, woody fibres, 
and the remains of animal and vegetable matter. They swallow 
earth also in considerable quantities, but this is probably on ac- 
count of the animal or vegetable matter, in a state of de- 
composition, which it may contain. When cut through the 
middle, each portion becomes a distinct individual. And in 
some worms nearly resembling the earth-worm, but residing in 
the water, the power of reproduction is nearly equal to that of 
the polypes. 

The Leech has three jaws, or rather lancets, with which it 
pierces the skin of animals, in order to suck their blood. Its 
tail is furnished with a shallow cup or disk, by which it is able 
to fix itself firmly to different objects, while obtaining its 
nourishment in this manner ; and by means of the same organ, 
it moves from place to place. There are several species of 
the leech, of which the medicinal is the most valuable, from 
the use made of it in local bloodletting. The horse-leech has 
the same power of drawing blood, but the wounds which it 
makes are sometimes followed by bad effects. 

The body of the Gordius, or Hair-worm, is long, shaped like 
a thread or hair, nearly smooth, and round. It is a vulgar notion 
that the hair of the human head, or of a horse's tail, if thrown 
into the water, acquires life, and is converted into a worm. A 
species of the hair-worm, in Africa and the Indies, is extremely 
noxious. It is of a pale, yellowish color, and is frequently met 
with among the grass, especially when covered with dew. It 
often insinuates itself into the naked feet or limbs of children and 
unwary persons, where it produces an inflammation that is some- 



MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 127 

times fatal. Great care and attention are required in extracting 
it ; for if it be broken during the operation, the part which re- 
mains in the flesh continues alive, and is quite as troublesome 
as the whole. 



CHAPTER Vni. 

THIRD BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. MOLLUSCOUS 

ANIMALS. 

Under this division are included a great variety of animals, 
of most of which the structure, residence, and habits are less 
perfectly known than those of the preceding classes. In their 
internal structure and organization, they are, for the most part, 
superior to the members of the division of Articulata, but as to 
intelligence and instinct, they are upon the whole inferior. 
Among them are the cuttle-fish, squid, oyster, clam, snail, and 
nearly all those commonly known as the testacea or shell-fish. 

The Mollusca are destitute of bones and of articulated limbs. 
Their bodies are generally of a soft texture, and in many, at 
first sight, appear to be little else than a simple mucous mass, 
without parts, and almost without organization. Their muscles 
are fixed into the skin, which is naked, very sensible, and con- 
stantly moistened by a fluid furnished by its pores. The contrac- 
tions of these muscles produce various motions of their whole 
bodies, often obscure and indistinct, by means of which, neverthe- 
less, they are enabled to swim and crawl, or even seize those ob- 
jects which are adapted to their nourishment. But as no part is 
supported by any solid foundation, like the bones of vertebral 
animals, their motions are for the most part slow, awkward, and 
limited. 

Their bodies are generally covered by a fold or reflection of 
the skin, which envelops them completely, and is called their 
mantle. (Fig. 8, Oyster.) In some species, the two folds of the 
mantle are united at their edges, so as to form a complete bag, 



128 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 

in which the body of the animal is contained, opening only at 
one end by a sort of canal or snout : in some, it extends in two 
opposite directions, so as to answer the purpose of fins or oars. 
Sometimes there is only this simple membranous covering ; but 
more frequently there is a hard external shell, which serves 
as a retreat into which the animal may withdraw itself, and 
which it can carry about upon its back in all its changes of 
place. These shells differ a good deal in shape, color, and 
texture, in different species ; and among them are found some, 
whose form, polish, and splendid tints place them among the 
most beautiful objects in nature. 

The Mollusca have no brain nor spinal nerve. Their nervous 
system consists merely of a number of masses, distributed in 
different parts of their bodies, from which are sent out a great 
many small branches, that mutually unite with each other. The 
principal of these, which is sometimes called the brain, is situated 
around the oesophagus, and envelops it like a collar. In a few 
species it is contained in a cartilaginous case. Their respiration 
is not uniform. It is generally carried on by organs resembling 
the gills of fishes, which are acted upon either by fresh or salt 
water ; but, in some cases, air is respired directly from the at- 
mosphere. The circulation is double ; that is to say, there is a 
passage of the blood through the respiratory organs, distinct from 
that through the rest of the body. This circulation is carried on 
by either one or more hearts. When there is only one, it is 
situated so as to receive the blood from the gills, and circulate it 
through the body. When there are two, the second is situated 
so as to circulate through the gills the blood coming from the 
body. In some species, there are three hearts ; and in this case, 
as there are two sets of gills, a distinct heart is devoted to each. 
The blood in the Mollusca is thin, of a bluish white, and of the 
temperature of the medium in which they live. 

The organs of digestion vary very much. Sometimes there 
are organs for mastication, and sometimes not. Some species 
have only a single stomach, and others have several ; the struc- 
ture of this organ, in some species, very much resembling that 
of the gizzard of birds. In some species there are four stomachs, 
which bear a great analogy to those of the ruminating animals, 



MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 129 

and have been supposed to answer a similar purpose. In the 
intestines there is as great a variety. 

This branch is divided into several classes, according to the 
general form and structure of the species composing it. A few 
of the most important particulars that distinguish some of them 
will be pointed out. 

In the first class, containing the cuttle-fish, squid, and nautilus, 
the body consists of a sack formed by the mantle, enveloping all 
the parts except the head, which projects from it, and is provided 
with a number of fleshy arms or feet, tapering towards their end, 
frequently of great length and of great power. These arms 
are capable of being moved in every direction, and are furnished 
with a large number of suckers in the form of cups, by which the 
animal can attach itself very closely to whatever object it em- 
braces. They serve for swimming, for creeping, and for seizing 
prey. In all its motions, the head goes last, so that the animal 
in a manner pushes itself backward in whatever direction it 
wishes to move. Between the arms is placed the mouth, which 
is furnished with two strong jaws of a horny texture, and in 
shape resembling the beak of a parrot. 

Some of these animals have the power of ejecting a peculiar 
liquid of a black color, when in any danger, for the purpose of 
discoloring the water of the sea around them, and thus conceal- 
ing themselves from their enemies. The cavity containing this 
liquid is situated in the abdomen, and is sometimes found in the 
very substance of the liver. It has been supposed, that the 
celebrated paint called Indian ink, is made by the Chinese from 
the inky fluid of some animal of this kind. 

Their eyes are large and perfect. They have an ear ; but no 
organ for smelling has been discovered, although they probably 
possess that sense. Their nature is fierce and cruel. They are 
very voracious, and devour great numbers of fishes and other 
aquatic animals. 

Some of these animals grow occasionally to a great size. 
This is more particularly the case with the eight-armed cuttle- 
fish. In the Indian seas, it is popularly supposed to attain to 
such a magnitude, that its arms are nine fathoms in length, and 
the other parts of its body large in proportion. The natives hold 
6# 



130 MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 

it in great dread, fearing that it will lay hold of their boats, and 
drag them under water. They keep themselves provided with 
hatchets, to cut off its arms, should any danger arise from this 
cause.* 

In another class, which includes the snail and the greater part 
of cockles, the foot, or instrument of motion, is placed under the 
belly of the animal, and consists of a fleshy plate or disk, pro- 
tected underneath by a layer of a horny or calcareous substance, 
which, when the animal retreats into its shell, serves to close up 
its opening. Their mantle is fixed upon the back, and covers 
more or less of the body, the head also being partly enveloped 
by it. The mouth has generally a few tentacula or feelers 
beneath it, but they are sometimes wanting. The eyes are very 
small, sometimes fixed to the head, and sometimes situated upon 
the end of the tentacula ; but they are also sometimes wanting. 
These animals are almost always furnished with shells, which 
serve them as a residence. 

The Mollusca of another class, including the oyster, the clam, 
the quahaug, the mussels, and, in short, all the bivalve shell-fish, 
have no apparent head, but only a mouth surrounded by four 
tentacula, and situated beneath the folds of their mantle. The 
mantle is generally composed of two folds, which inclose the body 
between them, as a book is contained within its covers. Some- 
times the edges of the two folds are united together, and form a 
complete sack. In the common clam, this sack terminates in 
a long, double, fleshy tube, which is usually called the head of 

* A curious but perhaps apocryphal account of an enormous animal, which 
was probably of this kind, is found in the works of Pliny, who cites it from a 
writer named Trebius. This animal made its appearance on the coast of Car- 
teia, and was in the habit, during the night, of robbing of their contents certain 
reservoirs of salt fish, which were situated near the seaside. Its depredations 
were not prevented by a row of stakes which were so planted as to intercept 
communication with the sea. It was found that the animal made use of a tree, 
which grew near the stakes, to assist it in climbing over them, and it was finally 
attacked, while in the reservoir, by a number of dogs and men. It made a pow- 
erful resistance, and lashed the dogs smartly with its arms, but was finally killed. 
Its body was as big as a hogshead ; its arms, called its beards, were as big as a 
man could clasp, and thirty feet long; and its cups or suckers held four gallons 
each. It weighed 700 pounds. The popular belief in an animal called the 
Kraken may have been derived from the appearance of very large specimens 
of creatures of this description. 



RADIATED ANIMALS. 131 

the animal, but in fact serves a totally different purpose ; one 
of the tubes being for the entrance of the water which supplies 
the gills in respiration, and the other serving as the termination 
of the intestinal canal. The true mouth of the animal is situated 
at that part of the body which corresponds to the other extremity 
of the shell. 

The Giant Clam is the largest of the testaceous Mollusca. 
Its shell is more than three feet long, and its body forms a meal 
for a number of persons. It is found in the Indian seas, and in 
different parts of the Pacific Ocean. 

Many of the animals of this kind are furnished with an organ 
denominated their foot, consisting of a fleshy mass attached to 
their body, whose motions are produced like those of the tongue 
of quadrupeds. This foot often gives rise to a number of fila- 
ments or threads, by which the animal is capable of attaching 
itself to rocks or other marine substances ; thus, as it were, being 
moored or anchored, and secured from the influence of the 
waves. The two valves of their shell are held together by 
strong muscles which pass from one to the other ; and when 
these are relaxed, the shells open mechanically, by means of an 
elastic substance placed in the hinge of the joint which con- 
nects them. 

There are several other classes of the Mollusca, but the char- 
acteristics by which they are distinguished are too obscure or 
minute to be here described. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FOURTH BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. RADIATED 

ANIMALS. 

Under this are included an immense number of individuals 
whose structure and habits are but imperfectly known, and which 
have but few apparent points of resemblance or connection, ex- 



132 EADIATED ANIMALS. 

cept a radiated arrangement of their organs around a common 
centre, which has been mentioned as their characteristic plan of 
structure. These animals were formerly included under the gen- 
eral denomination of Zoophytes, from their supposed approxima- 
tion to the vegetable kingdom in their nature and organization. 
In general they have no nervous system, no complete vascular 
circulation, no distinct apparatus for respiration, and no sense but 
that of feeling, and perhaps that of tasting. This is not true, 
however, without exception ; for in some instances, traces of a 
nervous system, of a circulation, and of respiratory organs, may 
be detected, as is particularly the case in the Echinodermata, the 
first class of Radiata. These are covered with a well-organized 
skin, and often with a sort of shell with points or spines. They 
have an internal cavity, with several distinct intestines, and ves- 
sels which maintain an imperfect circulation. There are also 
distinct organs for respiration, and many filaments that probably 
perform imperfectly the functions of a nervous system. To this 
class belong the sea-urchin, the common starfish, and the sea-egg. 
They are the most perfect of Radiata in their structure, and are 
endowed with a curious set of organs for the purpose of motion. 
Their shells are pierced with a large number of holes, regularly 
arranged, through which project the feet, or rather the instru- 
ments answering the purpose of feet. These are little hollow 
cylinders, composed of a membranous substance, and ending in a 
kind of knob, which is also hollow. They are filled with a liquid, 
which is furnished to them by reservoirs situated within the body. 
The animal at will can either lengthen these cylinders and dis- 
tend their extremities by forcing this liquid into them, or exhaust 
it, and thus shorten and contract them. When it is exhausted, 
the knob or disk is drawn into a cup-like form, and thus may be 
firmly fixed to whatever object it is applied, like a cupping-glass ; 
and when the liquid is again thrown into it, it is again loosened. 
By this arrangement, which enables it to fix and loosen, and at 
the same time to lengthen and shorten these organs, it is enabled 
to move itself from place to place. Some of the animals of this 
class are composed of several branches united together in one 
common centre, like the spokes of a wheel ; and hence they are 
called starfish, or more commonly five-fingers. Their mouth 



RADIATED ANIMALS. 133 

is in the centre, where the several branches meet. Others are 
globular, and others oblong, as in the sea-urchins and sea-eggs. 

The Sea-nettles, or Sea-anemones, (Fig. 9,) are less perfect. 
Their bodies are circular, and in their centre is the mouth, 
which leads to several rude and imperfect cavities in the sub- 
stance of the animal, answering the purposes of stomach and 
intestines. They are generally found attached by their base to 
some rock or marine substance ; but this attachment is volun- 
tary, for they can at will disengage themselves. Generally, how- 
ever, they perform no other motion than that of opening and 
closing their mouths, and extending the tentacula with which they 
are surrounded. With these they grasp animals coming within 
their reach, such as small fish, mollusca, and worms. These 
they swallow, and after having digested their flesh, throw out 
their bones, shells, and other refuse matter by the same opening, 
which is their only one. 

The Medusae do not differ much from these, except that they 
are apparently of a gelatinous, slimy consistence, and are never 
found fixed by their base. They are common, and are often seen 
in immense shoals. One species of them is popularly known by 
the name of sunfish. 

The Polypes have a hollow, cylindrical, or conical body, with 
one extremity open, which serves for the mouth, and is sur- 
rounded by a number of tentacula. The simple cavity thus 
formed constitutes their only organ, and performs all the func- 
tions of which they are capable. They seize their prey and con- 
vey it to their mouths with the tentacula, and, as their bodies are 
gelatinous and semi-transparent, the operation of digestion may 
be seen going on within. The immense beds of coral, and the 
different kinds of sponge, are the product of myriads of these 
little animals and are in some sense to be regarded as their habi- 
tations. 

The Animalcules are animals still more minute, and are 
few of them discernible except by the assistance of the micro- 
scope. Thousands of them are in this way brought to our view, 
of various shapes, sizes, and appearances. Most of them pre- 
sent merely a gelatinous mass, capable of an imperfect sort of 
motion. Some, however, present appearances of a structure 



134 EADIATED ANIMALS. 

which might give them a claim to a higher rank in the scale of 
beings, did not their minuteness prevent a proper examination. 
These animals are very often found in animal and vegetable 
fluids and infusions, and hence have received the name of Infu- 
soria. 

The following extract from a late writer exhibits in a striking 
manner the variety and characteristics of these animals, and dis- 
plays to us a world of life, visible only through the microscope, 
scarcely less various and wonderful than that of which we are 
able to take cognizance by our unassisted senses. " From some 
water containing aquatic plants, I select a small twig, to which 
are attached a few delicate flakes, apparently of slime or jelly. 
This twig, with a drop or two of the water, we put between two 
thin plates of glass, and place under the field of view of a mi- 
croscope, having lenses that magnify the image of an object two 
hundred times in linear dimensions. Upon looking through the 
instrument, we find the fluid swarming with animals of various 
shapes and magnitudes. Some are darting through the water 
with great rapidity, while others are pursuing and devouring 
creatures more infinitesimal than themselves. Many are at- 
tached to the twig by long, delicate threads ; several have their 
bodies inclosed in a transparent tube, from one end of which the 
animal partly protrudes and then recedes ; while numbers are 
covered by an elegant shell or case. The minutest kinds, de- 
nominated monads, many of which are so small that millions 
might be contained in a single drop of water, appear like mere 
animated globules, free, single, and of various colors, sporting 
about in every direction. Numerous species resemble pearly 
or opaline cups or vases, fringed round the margin with delicate 
fibres, that are in constant oscillation. Some of these are at- 
tached by spiral tendrils ; others are united by a slender stem to 
one common trunk, appearing like a bunch of harebells ; others 
are of a globular form, and grouped together in a definite pattern 
on a tabular or spherical membranous case for a certain period 
of their existence, and ultimately become detached and locomo- 
tive ; while many are permanently clustered together, and die 
if separated from the parent mass. No organs of progressive 
motion similar to those of beasts, birds, or fishes, are observable in 



RADIATED ANIMALS. 135 

these beings ; yet they traverse the water with rapidity, without 
the aid of limbs or fins ; and though many species are destitute 
of eyes, yet all possess an accurate perception of the presence 
of other bodies, and pursue and capture their prey with unerring 
purpose." 

Among the most singular and important of the facts connected 
with this minute race of animals, is the existence in certain spe- 
cies of a case, shell, or shield, composed of lime, flint, or iron. 
These are indestructible, and remain after the animal has per- 
ished, forming immense beds, in the same way in which are 
sometimes found large collections of the remains of shell-fish. 
" From the inconceivable number of these shell-animalcules, which 
swarm in every body of water, whether fresh or salt, and the 
immense rapidity with which the species increase, extensive de- 
jposits or strata of their cases are constantly forming at the bot- 
tom of lakes, rivers, and seas. Hence have originated the layers 
of white calcareous earth common in peat-bogs and morasses ; 
the tripoli or polishing slate of Bilin consisting wholly of the 
siliceous cases of animalcules, and the bog iron composed of fer- 
ruginous shields of other forms." The wonderful minuteness of 
these animals is shown by the fact that a cubic inch of the stone 
contains forty-one billions (41,000,000,000) of distinct organisms. 
The minuteness of the animalcules composing a kind of ochre, 
is stated to be even more extraordinary — a cubic inch containing 
no less than a trillion of them (1,000,000,000,000.) 

Their prolific nature is no less remarkable than their size. 
Such is the rapidity with which they multiply that in one species 
a single individual may in four weeks have descendants to the 
amount of 268,435,456 ; and, according to Ehrenberg, some 
species are so fertile that 140,000,000 may proceed in four days 
from a single germ. 



This completes a view of the whole animal kingdom, begin- 
ning with man, the most perfect member of it, and descending to 
those obscure and minute creatures which are only visible with 
the assistance of the microscope. It will be observed that one 



136 RADIATED ANIMALS. 

common plan pervades the whole ; that the same general objects 
are had in view in the structure of all, and that there is a gen- 
eral analogy in the methods employed for effecting these objects, 
although there is a great variety in the details ; that there is a 
grand simplicity in the design, though a great diversity in the 
means. In short, not only in the structure of each individual 
animal, but in the wonderful manner in which the structure is 
varied to correspond to the nature, habits, and wants of the dif- 
ferent classes, we may perceive the power, the wisdom, and the 
goodness of that great Creator, who has devised and formed, 
and who continues to sustain, the myriads of animated beings 
with which the earth is filled. 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. (W.)* 

OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 

A general view of the several functions that subserve the 
purposes of animal life has already been given in the Introduc- 
tion ; but there are many other circumstances relating to them 
which still remain to be considered. 

The form of the face and head, the general structure and pro- 
portions of the. body and limbs, the means of attack and defence, 
the strength, agility, and speed of an animal, all correspond to 
the organs of digestion, and bear a definite relation to them, 
and to the kind of food. 

Man cannot seize his food with his mouth, for his lips and 

teeth are upon a plane with the general surface of his face ; but 

he has hands by which he conveys it there. In other animals, 

just in proportion as the hands or fore feet become less adapted 

to this purpose, the mouth, face, and teeth become projecting, so 

as to make up for the deficiency. Thus the hands of the monkey 

are less perfect than ours, but his face is more protuberant. The 

Carnivora have jaws of more power, and hands again of less, 

whilst in the hoofed animals — as the horse, and ox — the jaws 

* In the subsequent parts of this work, the chapters which are taken chiefly 
from the original publication of Smellie are denoted by S., and in these the pas- 
sages substituted or added in the present edition are distinguished by a single 
inverted comma. The chapters prepared chiefly by the Editor are denoted by W., 
and the passages retained from the original are distinguished in the same way- 



138 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

become very protuberant, and the fore feet are merely adapted 
for motion. This gradation in structure is also connected with 
the kind of food. Where an animal, as a hoofed quadruped, feeds 
upon substances firmly fixed to the earth, the mouth and teeth 
are sufficient. Where the food is not fixed, as flesh or fruit, 
something more is required. Hence animals living upon flesh, 
use their fore legs to hold down their prey while they tear it with 
their teeth; those living upon small fruits hold them between 
their fore feet, like the squirrel ; whilst man and the monkeys, 
whose food is more various, have hands by which they can 
handle and prepare it. 

Man is evidently capable of living, and does live, upon a great 
variety of food. But the question has been often discussed, 
whether his natural food be animal or vegetable ? Is he, like 
most other animals, fitted by his nature to subsist upon a partic- 
ular kind, or was he intended for that variety of diet, to which 
he has recourse ? In his anatomical structure he is certainly most 
nearly allied to those species, such as the monkeys and their 
allied tribes, which in a state of nature live exclusively on fruits 
and vegetables. But experience shows that he is able to live, 
and enjoy at least equal health and strength, upon substances 
from the animal kingdom also. Some nations live exclusively 
on the one, some on the other ; whilst the majority of mankind 
are addicted to the indiscriminate use of both. The tribes of 
Esquimaux, who inhabit the northern extremities of the earth, 
subsist entirely upon the flesh of whales, seals, walruses, bears, 
and fishes, never, except by accident, having the opportunity of 
tasting vegetable food. The Indians and Spaniards inhabiting 
some of the extensive plains of South America, frequented by 
immense droves of cattle, live almost exclusively upon beef. 
The Arabian supports himself on dried horseflesh, dates, and the 
milk and flesh of the camel ; the millions of some of the regions 
of the East consume little else than rice ; and the inhabitants of 
many portions of the tropical regions of the earth, subsist chiefly 
upon fruits and vegetables. Among the civilized nations of 
Europe and America, the tables of the better classes are spread 
with an immense variety from both kingdoms of Nature, whilst 
many of the poorer are limited to bread and vegetables. 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 139 

Under all these different circumstances of diet, the average 
amount of health and strength does not seem, to common ob- 
servation, to differ materially, so far as it is dependent on the 
kind of the food. Other circumstances appear to have more in- 
fluence ; such as the general mode of life, the occupation, the 
clothing, the habitations, and the quality and supply of air. It is 
probably true that if man have a sufficient quantity of aliment, 
and if his habits of life are well ordered in other respects, he may 
enjoy health, strength, and long life, upon all the kinds of food 
which have been mentioned. It is also true, however, that those 
tribes or classes of men whose situation enables them to gratify the 
appetite by a considerable variety, are more likely to attain to a 
high state of physical development, than those that are rigidly 
confined to a few articles. 

The application of heat in the preparation of food undoubtedly 
contributes to the capacity for enduring this variety. Heat 
changes its texture and qualities ; skilfully applied, it reduces 
very heterogeneous substances to a near approximation in their 
digestibility. Domestic animals whose food is cooked, resemble 
man in this respect. The dog and cat will subsist very well, and 
even exclusively, upon vegetable food, whilst, to some extent, though 
far less, some vegetable-eating animals will take animal food. 

In fact there is not so great a difference between the products 
of the two kingdoms of Nature, used as food, as their sensible 
qualities would lead us to suppose. They consist essentially of 
the same principles. The vegetable world is the great laboratory 
in which food is prepared for the animal ; and after its products 
have entered the bodies of animals, they are not greatly changed 
in their composition and essential qualities as articles for nutri- 
tion, though they are much altered from the texture and form 
in which they were swallowed. 

The question then of the natural food of man is hardly capable 
of solution. It is as difficult to determine as that which relates 
to a supposed state of nature in other respects. Probably there 
is, in the proper sense of the word, no absolute or uniform state 
of nature. Calculated for an extensive distribution over the 
surface of the earth, man has been endowed with a power of ac- 
commodating himself to great differences in country, climate, 



140 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

and food. He was probably not intended for any one residence 
more than another. He was intended for just what his in- 
stincts and propensities lead him to. As much for a hot cli- 
mate as a temperate one, and as much for a cold one as 
either. 

But though thus capable of living upon this variety of food, there 
is an almost necessary connection between certain conditions of life 
and its kind and quantity. In cold climates, not only a larger quan- 
tity is required, and of animal origin, but also that containing a 
great proportion of fatty matter. This is supposed to be rendered 
necessary in order to maintain the animal heat by its consumption. 
In hot climates, on the contrary, where this is hardly at all re- 
quired, the quantity of food may be less, and especially of that 
containing fat. So, too, great bodily labor is supposed to be best 
maintained on a large proportion of animal food, but a sedentary 
and indolent life to require chiefly that of vegetable origin. There 
is probably a general truth in these opinions, but the deviations 
are so many as to render them liable to much modification. 

Thus in the interior of Africa, in a hot climate, we are in- 
formed by travellers that the capacity for taking and digesting 
food is great. Dr. Oudney says of the Tuaricks, " We were told 
of two men who consumed three sheep at a meal ; another who 
eat a kail of bruised dates, with a corresponding quantity of milk ; 
another who eat about a hundred loaves of the size of an English 
penny loaf." 

Still there is no reasonable doubt that in cold climates the de- 
mand for fatty animal food is more uniform, and the capacity of 
subsisting without it is less, than in warm. Indeed the instinctive 
avidity for it is sometimes almost startling. Captain Cochrane re- 
lates, that in Siberia he saw a child scrape up candle grease from 
the floor to eat, as a child with us might scrape up molasses. He 
gave it three tallow candles, several pounds of frozen sour butter, 
and a large piece of yellow soap. All were eaten with avidity. 
The Yakeite or Tongousi will eat anything, however putrid or 
repulsive. He has seen one of them eat forty pounds of meat 
in a day, and three of them eat a reindeer at a meal. Captain 
Parry, in his Voyage to the North Pole, states the following ex- 
periment on a young Esquimaux lad, scarcely full grown, not as 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 141 

anything uncommon, but simply as an illustration of the demand 
for food, and the capacity for digesting it, among persons enduring 
the cold of a northern climate. The following amount of food 
and drink was dealt out, and consumed by him in the course of 
twenty hours, without any apparent inconvenience : 

lbs. oz. 
Flesh of seahorse, frozen . . . . . 4 4 

" " " boiled 4 4 

Bread and bread-dust . . . . . . 1 12 



Solids 10 4 

Rich gravy soup . . . . . 1J pints. 

Raw spirits 3 wineglassfuls. 

Strong grog 1 tumblerful. 

Water at 32° 1 gallon, 1 pint. 

Liquids, about . . . . . .11 pints. 

The whole would amount to about twenty-one pounds of solids 
and liquids, or about one sixth of the weight of his whole body. 
This quantity, however, enormous as it is, is far exceeded by 
that devoured by some birds. Professor Treadwell, of Cam- 
bridge, noted carefully the amount of food consumed by a young 
robin during its period of growth, and found that he eat greedily 
more than Lis* own weight of solid food daily, consisting chiefly 
of earth-worms and butchers' meat. At one period in the course 
of the experiment the daily weight of his food was thirty-four 
dwt., while his own was twenty-four dwt. He therefore con- 
sumed about forty-one per cent, more than his own weight. 

It is found that those animals whose mode of life requires 
great, violent, and sudden exertions of strength, are carnivorous ; 
whilst rapid and persevering motion is chiefly observed in the 
herbivorous. Of the former, we have examples in the lion and 
tiger ; of the latter, in the horse and reindeer. But it is very 
doubtful whether any just argument can be derived from this 
analogy, in favor of any particular views concerning the food of 
man, or its adaptation to particular kinds of labor. 



142 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

There is sufficient reason to believe, as the result of all that is 
known on this subject, that the best food for man is a combination 
of animal and vegetable, differing in the proportion they bear to 
each other according to climate and occupation ; that he is better 
nourished and developed if he has a considerable variety of diet ; 
and that the digestibility of most substances is improved by being 
cooked. But even this last is not universally true, since among 
savage nations meat is often eaten raw and is thus preferred. A 
late traveller in Abyssinia (Mr. Parkyns) states this to be the 
case in that country, and that the inhabitants regard meat as more 
tender and relishing if cut directly from the animal when life is 
barely extinct ; that not long after death the fibre becomes tough 
and less delicious. Accordingly at the feasts of the higher classes 
a cow is slaughtered on the spot, and the warm flesh served up 
to the company, just as it is cut in strips from the warm and still 
quivering carcass. In Dr. Kane's narrative of his late expedi- 
tion to the polar seas, many facts are stated which indicate not 
only the capacity of man for thriving on raw flesh, but also its 
superior adaptation, under certain circumstances, to his support 
under great labor, hardship, and exposure to cold, and also to the 
prevention and removal of disease. 

In the selection of particular articles among different vegetable 
and animal substances, man is determined very much by caprice, 
prejudice, and accident, and sometimes by superstition. Locusts 
are esteemed excellent food by some nations, and are eaten in 
large quantities, roasted, boiled, and dried. A European or 
American would almost shudder at the idea of feeding upon the 
common grasshopper, which is probably as suitable food. The 
Australian devours with avidity grubs and worms; the African 
feeds upon ants ; we regard oysters and clams as excellent articles 
of diet, whilst snails, leeches, and worms are rejected with loath- 
ing. There is good reason to believe that the flesh of many ani- 
mals which we should shrink from with disgust, is in reality 
perfectly well adapted to the wants and probably would be to 
the taste of man, as the horse, dog, cat, rat, and mouse. In- 
deed they are all eaten by some nations, and even by Europeans 
when pressed by hunger. 

A strange kind of food is resorted to in times of scarcity by 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 148 

the savage nations of different parts of the world, namely, earth, 
either by itself, or mixed with other articles. The kind usually 
resorted to is an unctuous, almost tasteless clay. On the banks 
of the Orinoco, this is kneaded into cakes, baked before a slow fire, 
and preserved for use. By habit it becomes agreeable to the 
palate, and is eaten even when not rendered necessary by the 
want of other suitable food. The slaves in the West Indies 
have been specially addicted to dirt-eating, and although from its 
supposed injurious effect it was forbidden by their owners, they 
were with difficulty restrained from the practice. This practice 
has been chiefly observed in the torrid regions. It is not, how- 
ever, confined to them, but prevails also in China, Finland, and 
Lapland. Part of the influence of this kind of food is probably 
due to the feeling of fulness which it gives to the digestive 
organs, and which is necessary to the perfect satisfaction of 
the appetite ; but it has also been supposed that there may be 
mixed with the earth large quantities of animalcules which give 
to it a nutritious quality. 

In the interior of South Africa, according to Dr. Livingstone, 
there is a tree, called mopane, on whose " leaves the small larvae 
of a winged insect appear, covered over with a sweet, gummy 
substance. The people collect this in great quantities, and use it 
as food ; and the copave — large caterpillars three inches long, 
which feed on the leaves, and are seen strung together — share 
the same fate." 

A too exclusive confinement to a particular kind of diet, 
especially to a very limited number of articles, with very little 
variety of kind, is apt to be productive of disease, or at least to 
interfere with the proper growth and development of the body. 
In some public institutions, under such a diet, dysentery of a bad 
character has prevailed. The scurvy is occasioned by a too ex- 
clusive use of salted provisions, with a deficiency of fruit and 
vegetables. Captain Franklin, on his land journey to the arctic 
regions, found that his men contracted dysentery from an exclu- 
sive diet of dried flesh and fish ; that they were enfeebled by it, 
particularly by the latter. Those Eastern nations that live chiefly 
on rice, are weak and inefficient, incapable of great exertion, and 
liable to many diseases, probably to be attributed to this kind of 



144 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

food. The chiefs of many of the South Sea Islands, who are 
well fed, are large and strong ; whilst the lower classes, on the 
contrary, whose food is poor, and who seldom taste flesh, are 
small and weak. The same general difference may be observed 
among the nations of Europe, when the condition of the higher 
classes is compared with that of the lower. Loss of health, dis- 
ease, and death have been largely produced among soldiers of the 
English army by an exclusive diet of even so nourishing articles 
as boiled beef, bread, and potatoes. 

It is partly by his power of thus accommodating himself to 
various kinds of food, that man is capable of residing in all the 
different regions of the earth. It is partly also owing to his 
skill and address in cultivating the earth, and in procuring vari- 
ous forms of animal food by hunting, fishing, and domestication, 
and to the sagacity which enables him to avail himself of the 
protection afforded by habitations, clothing, and the use of fire. 
It is the want of these which confines other animals for the most 
part within certain limits. The frugivorous animals of the torrid 
zone would perish in the frigid, from cold and the want of fruits 
and vegetables. The polar bear, the walrus, and other inhabi- 
tants of the arctic regions, would probably meet with the same 
fate in those around the equator. A few animals, especially the 
dog, have been found the usual attendants upon man in his dis- 
tribution over the earth ; but even these appear to owe their 
capacity for enduring these migrations to the aid of their com- 
mon master, and to the extension to them of the same expedi- 
ents which he has found necessary for himself. 

This relation of animals to each other, and of the animal 
kingdom to the vegetable, is one of the causes which regulate 
the distribution of life over the earth. Some species are con- 
fined to a very narrow range, others extend over a wide. None, 
perhaps, are dispersed over a whole continent, and only a few 
are common to the two hemispheres. This is in some part de- 
termined by their several demands for food. Every vegetable 
substance is fed upon by animals, or in its decay affords nourish- 
ment to other vegetables. Every animal is liable to become in 
its turn the prey of other animals. If not devoured alive by its 
enemies, it furnishes a feast to worms and insects after its death, 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 145 

or, by enriching the soil where it falls, aids in the growth of plants. 
Universal destruction and universal renewal is thus the law of 
all life, and by means of it life is made to pervade every spot and 
cranny in the earth. 

The suffering which appears to be the necessary accompani- 
ment of this relation of animals to each other, is alleviated in 
various ways. Whilst the assailant, on the one hand, is furnished 
with means of seizure and attack, his prey, on the other, has those 
which give him a reasonable chance of escape. The lion has 
strength to overcome the horse, but the horse, gifted with a most 
delicate ear and superior fleetness, perceives his approach, and 
leaves the danger behind. The hawk discerns the lizard or 
mole in the grass from an immense height in the air, and pounces 
down upon him ; the little animal shrinks beneath a stone or 
into his burrow, and the powerful marauder is defeated. The 
owl sees clearly in the dusk, and glides softly through the air on 
muffled wings, to seek a prey whose nicety of hearing is pro- 
portioned to the feebleness of the sound which warns him of the 
danger. The duck, when the falcon descends upon him from the 
clouds, dives beneath the water. The flying-fish, pursued by the 
voracious shark in his own element, takes refuge in the air. 
There is no end of these provisions by which Nature seems, as 
it were, to defeat her own objects. But it is not so ; they are in- 
tentionally incomplete. No one animal has an unmixed advan- 
tage over any other. There is always some compensation ; 
always some disadvantage to qualify it. So, too, there is no 
disadvantage, without a corresponding compensation. The ad- 
vantage which the lion has over other animals in certain par- 
ticulars, has an offset in his want of a delicate smell. The 
disadvantage which the horse and zebra labor under as his 
neighbors, is compensated by their acuteness of ear, and swift- 
ness of foot ; that of the buffalo, by the strength of his neck 
and horns ; that of the elephant, by his tusks and trunk. It is 
so everywhere else. No animal is given up to inevitable destruc- 
tion ; there is always a hope of escape, and the exertion neces- 
sary to improve its chance lessens the pain of fear, and takes 
away that apprehension of death in which its terrors chiefly 

consist. 

7 



146 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

A rtmarkable statement of Dr. Livingstone illustrates in a 
striking manner another provision intended for the alleviation of 
the horrors which we may suppose to attend the seizure and 
destruction of animals as prey. " Starting, and looking half 
round, I saw a lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was 
upon a little height. He caught my shoulder as he sprang, and 
we came to the ground both together. Growling horribly close 
to my ear, he shook me as a terrier does a rat. The shock pro- 
duced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse 
after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in 
which there was no sense of pain or feeling of terror, though 
quite conscious of all that was happening. It was what patients 
partially under the influence of chloroform describe, who see all 
the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition 
was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated 
fear, and allowed no horror in looking round at the beast. This 
peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the 
Carnivora ; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent 
Creator for lessening the pain of death." 

Man is directed, in the selection of his food, partly by accident, 
and partly by experience and the aid of his senses. That which 
is agreeable to the taste is usually healthful to the stomach ; and 
by a constant observation of the effects produced by different 
kinds of food, he has gradually learned certain general rules for 
distinguishing nutritious and salutary articles from others. Still 
he has no guide so unerring as the instinct of animals, and the 
young of our own species will often partake of poisonous plants, a 
mistake seldom made by those of other animals. For the most 
part, the Mammalia depend upon the smell as their guide, though 
sometimes when at fault they subject the doubtful article to the 
taste. Birds depend more upon sight, but partly also on the smell 
and taste, or upon them combined, as we see in the domestic fowl. 

There is often something capricious and unaccountable in the 
selection made by animals. Those apparently nearly alike in 
structure and habits, do not uniformly agree in the food they 
choose. The ass will eat food which the horse rejects ; there 
are some herbs which the goat, cow, and sheep, nearly allied in 
structure and habits, will not partake in common. This is partly 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 147 

a matter of taste. We often observe, even in those of the same 
species, that some individuals partake of that which others reject. 
Necessity, too, will often oblige them to have recourse to an article 
which is not only at first distasteful, but repugnant to their instincts. 
Yet in time they accommodate themselves to it, so as not only to 
be well nourished, but absolutely to prefer it. Thus in some 
cold countries, horses are fed upon dried fish. In some fishing 
towns, cows are fed upon fresh fish, or the parts of them which 
are usually thrown away. Monkeys become very fond of meat. 
Rabbits and hogs frequently devour their young. Dogs are easily 
taught to live upon bread, and even raw fruit and vegetables ; 
even the household cat, a more exclusively carnivorous animal, 
may be reared in the same way, and flourish wholly upon vege- 
table food. 

But this power of accommodation has its limits, and there are 
many articles eaten with impunity by some animals, which are 
absolutely poisonous to others. The term poison is relative. 
The healthful food of one, is fatal to another. We are told by 
Dr. Livingstone that the milky juice of the euphorbia, which is 
harmless to oxen, is fatal to the zebra, and that the hornbill 
feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the strychnos. There 
is no vegetable substance deadly to man, which is not the food 
of some other animal. Even some mineral substances which are 
destructive to the life of one species are swallowed with im- 
punity by some other. Thus corrosive sublimate is taken by the 
eagle with little more effect than so much sugar ; whilst com- 
mon salt, in any considerable quantity, kills the common fowl. 
Among individuals of our own species, it is not uncommon to 
observe analogous varieties in the taste, and capacity for taking 
different kinds of food. Some persons have a strong repugnance 
to particular articles. In some cases this is simply a matter of 
taste ; in others the article is absolutely injurious. This happens 
even with regard to the most healthful substances, such as milk, 
butter, cheese, pork, or mutton. It is more frequent as to certain 
less common ones, as lobsters, clams, mussels, oysters, mackerel, 
and similar fish. To this peculiarity of constitution is given the 
name of idiosyncrasy. It relates to other substances beside 
food, and even to some which are not introduced into the stomach. 



148 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

The odor of roses produces in certain persons a rash upon the 
skin ; in others a cough, and difficulty of breathing, with other 
symptoms like those of a severe cold. A similar condition is 
produced in others by the emanations from other flowers and 
from hay. The powder of ipecacuanha will in some produce the 
same affection in a very severe degree, when breathed into the 
lungs. And as an example of the different modes in which this 
peculiarity exhibits itself, we are informed by Tennent that the 
bite of the ttetse fly of Africa, which is deadly to the horse, ox, 
and dog, is harmless to man and wild animals. 

A singular example of the nice adaptation of the kind of food, 
to a particular species, and of the deleterious effect of that which 
would seem very nearly resembling it, is given by the celebrated 
Reaumur. He remarks that such insects as feed upon dead car- 
casses, and whose fecundity is great, never attack living animals. 
' The flesh-fly deposits her eggs in the bodies of dead animals, 
where her progeny receive that nourishment which is best suited 
to their constitution. But this fly never attempts to lay her eggs 
in the flesh of sound and living animals. If Nature had deter- 
mined her to observe the opposite conduct, men, quadrupeds, and 
birds would have been dreadfully afflicted by the ravages of this 
single insect. Lest it might be imagined that the flesh-fly se- 
lected dead, instead of live animals, because, in depositing her 
eggs, she was unable to pierce the skin of the latter, M. de 
Reaumur made the following experiment, which removed every 
doubt that might arise on the subject. He carefully pulled off 
all the feathers from the thigh of a young pigeon, and applied to 
it a thin slice of beef, in which there were hundreds of maggots. 
The portion of beef was not sufficient to maintain them above a 
few hours. He fixed it to the thigh by a bit of gauze ; and he 
prevented the pigeon from moving, by tying its wings and legs. 
The maggots soon showed that their present situation was dis- 
agreeable to them. Most of them retired from under the slice 
of beef; and the few that remained perished in a short time. 
Upon the same pigeon M. de Reaumur performed another ex- 
periment. He took off the skin from its thigh, laid bare the 
flesh, and applied immediately another slice of beef, full of mag- 
gots. The animals discovered evident marks of uneasiness ; and 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 149 

all of them that remained on the flesh of the pigeon were de- 
prived of life, as in the former experiment, in less than an hour. 
Hence the worms sometimes found in ulcerous sores must belong 
to a different species from those upon which the above experi- 
ments were made.' The heat of the living body, in these cases, 
has been supposed to be the occasion of death. It is more prob- 
able that it is to be attributed to the want of their accustomed 
food, or to the directly injurious effect of that with which they 
were placed in contact. 

Some of the details connected with the digestion of food, es- 
pecially those which relate to the grinding and dissolving of it 
in the stomach, in order to its conversion into chyle, are worthy 
of further attention. Some physiologists have attempted to ex- 
plain the process "of digestion solely by reference to mechanical 
force, and others by attributing it to chemical action alone. 
Probably it is due to a combination of the two. In some 
animals more mechanical force is required, whilst in some the 
solvent power of chemical agents is put chiefly in requisition. 
A great variety of experiments have been made upon man and 
other animals, a few of the most remarkable of which are sub- 
joined. 

Spallanzani, who made a great number of original observations 
and experiments upon digestion, directed his attention to this 
function, as taking place in animals with three different kinds of 
stomach. 1. Those with strong muscular stomachs or gizzards, 
as hens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and pigeons. 2. Those with 
stomachs of an intermediate structure, as crows, herons, &c. 
3. Those with membranous stomachs, as man, the Mammalia, 
many Birds, particularly the accipitrine, Reptiles, and Fishes. 

1. In his experiments upon birds with strong gizzards, Spal- 
lanzani forced down their throats small glass and metal balls and 
tubes, filled with grain, and perforated with many holes, in order 
to give free admission to the gastric juice. The grain was in 
its entire state. At the end of different periods, varying from 
twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the animals were killed and the 
balls examined. No change had taken place in the grain. 
There was no diminution of size, and no marks of dissolution 
were to be seen. In all his experiments, which were numerous, 



150 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

the event was uniformly the same. Suspecting that, although 
the gastric juice might be unable to dissolve grains in their entire 
state, it might act as a solvent upon them when sufficiently masti- 
cated or bruised, he repeated his experiments, filling his balls 
with bruised grain. In all his numerous trials upon this plan, he 
invariably found that the grain was more or less dissolved, in 
proportion to the time the balls were allowed to remain in the 
stomach. 

When tin tubes full of grain were thrust into the stomachs of 
turkeys, and allowed to continue there a considerable time, they 
were found to be broken, crushed, and distorted in such a manner 
as to evince the existence of a most powerful comminuting force. 
" Having found," says Spallanzani, " that the tin tubes which I 
used for common fowls were incapable of resisting the stomach 
of turkeys, and not happening at that time to be provided with 
any tin-plate of greater thickness, I tried to strengthen them, by 
soldering to the ends two circular plates of the same metal, per- 
forated only with a few holes for the admission of the gastric 
fluid. But this contrivance was ineffectual ; for after the tubes 
had been twenty-four hours in the stomach of a turkey, the cir- 
cular plates were driven in, and some of the tubes were broken, 
some compressed, and some distorted, in the most irregular 
manner." 

These smooth substances, although violently acted upon, could 
not injure the stomach, and Spallanzani was therefore induced to 
try the effect of sharp bodies. He found that the stomach of a 
cock in twenty-four hours broke off the angles of a piece of 
rough, jagged glass, without laceration or wound. A leaden ball, 
into which twelve strong tin needles were firmly fixed, with their 
points projecting about a quarter of an inch from the surface, 
was then covered with a case of paper, and forced down the 
throat of a turkey. The animal discovered no symptoms of 
uneasiness, and at the end of a day and a half, when the stomach 
was examined, the points of the twelve needles were broken off 
close to the surface of the ball, except two or three, which pro- 
jected a little. Two of these points were discovered among the 
food ; the other ten had probably passed out of the body. 

In another experiment, still more cruel than this, twelve small 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 151 

lancets were fixed, in a similar manner, into a leaden ball, and 
forced down the throat of a turkeycock. After eight hours, the 
stomach was opened, but nothing appeared except the naked ball, 
the lancets having been broken to pieces. The stomach itself 
was found perfectly sound and uninjured in both these experi- 
ments. 

It is common, in the gizzards of many birds, to find small 
stones, which have been supposed to assist in breaking down 
grain and other hard substances into small fragments, to pre- 
pare the way for their digestion. Spallanzani has endeavored to 
prove that the muscular action of the gizzard is equally powerful 
without the stones. In a number of pigeons which he had 
fed from the egg himself, so as to prevent them from obtaining 
stones, he found that tin tubes, glass globules, and fragments of 
broken glass were acted upon in the same way as in ordinary 
circumstances ; and this happened also without any laceration of 
the stomach. It is the opinion, however, of the best physiolo- 
gists, notwithstanding these experiments, that stones are ex- 
tremely useful in the comminution of grain and other substances 
which constitute the food of fowls, though not absolutely es- 
sential. 

2. In stomachs of an intermediate kind, such as those of 
crows, ravens, &c, the power and action of their coats upon 
substances contained within them, were found to be greatly in- 
ferior to those of the strong muscular stomachs. But little 
alteration was. produced upon the tubes of tin ; but, when made 
of lead, they were evidently compressed and flattened. When 
unbroken grains and seeds were inclosed in perforated tubes and 
thrust into their stomachs, no change whatever was produced ; no 
solution appeared to have taken place. But when the same sub- 
stances were bruised into a coarse flour, so as to get rid of their 
husks, a very sensible diminution of their bulk took place, and on 
being several times introduced, they were finally entirely dis- 
solved. Wheat and beans, when eaten voluntarily by the crow, 
offered similar phenomena. Before swallowing, the animal set 
them under its feet, and broke them in pieces by repeated strokes 
of its beak ; and then they were very well digested. But when 
the same seeds were swallowed entire, they were generally 



152 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

vomited up, or voided unaltered. Similar experiments were 
made with French beans, peas, nut-kernels, bread-apples, and 
different kinds of flesh and fish ; and corresponding results were 
obtained. 

' 3. Spallanzani finished his experiments on digestion with those 
animals which have thin, membranous stomachs, as man, quadru- 
peds, fishes, reptiles, and some birds. In these, the coats of the 
stomach seemed to have little or no mechanical action upon their 
contents ; the gastric juice being fully sufficient to break down 
the food and reduce it to a pulp. 

' With regard to man, Dr. Stevens, in an Inaugural Dissertation 
concerning digestion, published at Edinburgh, in the year 1777, 
relates several experiments upon a German who gained a miser- 
able livelihood by swallowing stones for the amusement of the 
people. He began this strange practice at the age of seven, and 
had at that time continued it about twenty years. He swallowed 
six or eight stones at a time, some of them as large as a pigeon's 
egg, and passed them in the natural way. Dr. Stevens thought 
this poor man would be an excellent subject for ascertaining the 
solvent power of the gastric juice in the human stomach, and 
accordingly made use of him for this purpose. He made the 
German swallow a hollow, silver sphere, divided into two cavities 
by a partition, and perforated with a great number of holes 
capable of admitting an ordinary needle. Into one of these 
cavities he put four scruples and a half of raw beef, and into the 
other iive scruples of raw bleak. In twenty-one hours the 
sphere was voided, when the beef had lost a scruple and a half, 
and the fish two scruples. A few days afterwards, the German 
swallowed the same sphere, which contained, in one cavity, four 
scruples and four grains of raw beef, and, in the other, four scru- 
ples and eight grains of boiled. The sphere was returned in 
forty-three hours ; the raw flesh had lost one scruple and two 
grains, and the boiled one scruple and sixteen grains. Suspect- 
ing that, if these substances were divided, the solvent would have 
a freer access to them, and more of them would be dissolved, Dr. 
Stevens procured another sphere, with holes large enough to 
receive a crow's quill. He inclosed some beef in it, a little 
masticated. In thirty-eight hours after it was swallowed, it was 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 153 

voided quite empty. Perceiving how readily the chewed meat 
was dissolved, he tried whether it would dissolve equally soon 
without being chewed. With this view, he put a scruple and 
eight grains of pork into one cavity, and the same quantity of 
cheese into the other. The sphere was retained in the German's 
stomach and intestines forty-three hours ; at the end of which 
time, not the smallest quantity of either pork or cheese was to be 
found in the sphere. He next swallowed the same sphere, which 
contained, in one partition, some roasted turkey, and some boiled 
salt herring in the other. The sphere was voided in forty-six 
hours ; but no part of the turkey or herring appeared ; for both 
had been completely dissolved. Having discovered that animal 
substances, though inclosed in tubes, were easily dissolved by the 
gastric juice, the Doctor tried whether it would produce the same 
effect upon vegetables. He therefore inclosed an equal quantity 
of raw parsnip and potato in a sphere. After continuing forty- 
eight hours in the alimentary canal, not a vestige of either 
remained. Pieces of apple and turnip, both raw and boiled, 
were dissolved in thirty-six hours. 

'The German left Edinburgh before the Doctor had an op- 
portunity of making a farther progress in his experiments. He 
therefore had, recourse to dogs and ruminating animals. In the 
course of his trials upon the solvent power in the gastric fluid of 
dogs, he found that it was capable of dissolving hard bones, and 
even hard balls of ivory ; but that in equal times very little 
impression was made upon potatoes, parsnips, and other veg- 
etable substances. On the contrary, in the ruminating animals, 
as the sheep, the ox, &c, he discovered that their gastric juice 
speedily dissolved vegetables, but made no impression on beef, 
mutton, and other animal bodies. From these last experiments, 
it appears that the different tribes of animals are not less dis- 
tinguished by their external figure, and by their manners, than 
by the quality and powers of their gastric juices. Dogs, in the 
state of nature are unable to digest vegetables, and, in a state 
of nature, sheep and oxen cannot digest animal substances. As 
the gastric juice of the human stomach is capable of dissolving, 
nearly with equal ease, both animals and vegetables, this cir- 
cumstance affords a strong, and almost an irresistible, proof, 
7* 



154 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

that Nature originally intended man to feed promiscuously 
upon both.' * 

An opportunity of examining the process of digestion in a 
more satisfactory manner than by these experiments has been 
since afforded in the case of a Canadian, Alexis St. Martin, in 
whom a large opening into the stomach, caused by a wound of 
this organ, remained permanently open after he had otherwise 
recovered. Through this opening, the state of the stomach during 
digestion, and the mode in which this process takes place, were 
observed by Dr. Beaumont, who has published an interesting 
account of his researches. They serve to confirm the opinion 
previously entertained, that in the stomach the food is dissolved 
by the agency of the gastric juice ; that this is capable of acting 
in the same manner out of the body as in it ; that during the 
process the food is constantly subjected to a species of churning or 
peristaltic motion, by which it is in the first place thoroughly 
mixed with the gastric juice, and then the portions. of it as they 
are dissolved and converted into chyme, gradually pass out of 
the stomach into the intestines. This motion hastens and facili- 
tates the solution, in the same way as stirring hastens that of sugar 
or salt in water. 

A great variety of other facts were determined by Dr. Beau- 
mont ; but, though highly interesting in their relation to physiology 
and disease, they are rather suited to professional treatises than 
to one intended chiefly for the general reader. 

'Living animals, as long as the vital principle remains in them, 
are not affected by the solvent powers of the stomach. " Hence 
it is," Mr. Hunter remarks, "that we find animals of various 
kinds living in the stomach, or even hatched and bred there ; but 
the moment that any of these lose the living principle, they be- 
come subject to the digestive powers of the stomach.f If it were 

* Notwithstanding these experiments, of the accuracy of which there is no 
reason to doubt, it is unquestionable, as before stated, that animals can be ac- 
customed to food very different from that which is most natural to them. 

t It is nevertheless true that most animals when taken into the stomach alive 
are killed and then digested. This is the case with raw oysters. It was also 
found by Dr. Stevens in the experiments already related, that leeches and 
earth-worms, when inclosed in spheres and swallowed by his German subject, 
were completely dissolved by the action of the gastric juice. 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 155 

possible, for example, for a man's hand to be introduced into the 
stomach of a living animal, and kept there for some considerable 
time, it would be found that the dissolvent powers of the stomach 
could have no effect upon it ; but if the same hand were separated 
from the body, and introduced into the same stomach, we should 
then find that the stomach would immediately act upon it. In- 
deed, if this were not the case, we should find that the stomach 
itself ought to have been made of indigestible materials ; for if 
the living principle was not capable of preserving animal sub- 
stances from undergoing that process, the stomach itself would be 
digested. But we find, on the contrary, that the stomach, which, 
at one instant, that is, while possessed of the living principle, is 
capable of resisting the digestive powers which it contains, the 
next moment, namely, when deprived of the living principle, is 
itself capable of being digested, either by the digestive powers 
of other stomachs, or by the remains of that power which it had 
of digesting other things." 

6 When bodies are opened some time after death, a considerable 
aperture is frequently found at the larger extremity of the 
stomach. " In these cases," says Mr. Hunter, " the contents of 
the stomach are generally found loose in the cavity of the abdo- 
men, about the spleen and diaphragm. In many subjects, this 
digestive power extends much farther than through the stomach. 
I have often found, that, after it had dissolved the stomach at the 
usual place, the contents of the stomach had come into contact 
with the spleen and diaphragm, had partly dissolved the adjacent 
side of the spleen, and had dissolved the stomach quite through ; 
so that the contents of the stomach were found in the cavity 
of the thorax, and had even affected the lungs in a small 
degree." ' 

The ultimate purpose of the function of digestion is the con- 
version of the aliment taken, into blood. All animals have blood, 
but it is only among the higher classes that its peculiar qualities 
have been accurately observed. It appears, in man, like a homo- 
geneous fluid of a red color ; but it contains within itself the 
materials necessary to the composition of all the organs of the 
body, and the different organs select and separate from it those 
which are suited to their particular purpose. These materials, 



156 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

by an inherent, but most mysterious, power, are then moulded into 
the appropriate textures, and enter into the composition of the 
part. 

The blood, although apparently so homogeneous, no sooner 
ceases to circulate than it spontaneously undergoes a variety of 
changes. If drawn into a vessel, and suffered to remain at rest, 
it speedily passes into the state of a soft solid. This is its coagu- 
lation. After a while it separates into two portions, like curdled 
milk. One is a yellowish liquid called serum. The other is still 
a soft solid of a deep red color, called the clot or crassamentum. 

If the serum be exposed to a heat of about 160°, it coagulates in 
its turn, like the white of an egg when boiled, with which, indeed, 
its composition is nearly identical. From this coagulum a thin 
fluid may also be separated, which does not coagulate by heat. 

The crassamentum, when separated entirely from the serum, 
becomes much firmer in its consistence, and resembles somewhat 
the muscular flesh of animals. It is also capable of being sepa- 
rated into two parts. By washing it repeatedly in water, it grad- 
ually loses its red color, and becomes nearly white, whilst the col- 
oring matter is wholly transferred to the water. This is found, 
by examination under the microscope, to consist of small particles 
of a flattened globular shape like discs or rings. These are the 
red globules. They are heavier than the other parts, and would 
settle to the bottom did the blood remain in a fluid state. Indeed, 
when coagulation takes place slowly, the lower part of the clot 
is found to contain them in much larger proportion than the 
upper. Their diameter, which is not uniform, is stated by the 
best observers to be from ^Vo - to ^Vu of an inch. 

It is worthy of remark, that the blood globules vary much in 
size and shape in different animals, and this without any intelli- 
gible relation to the size or character of the individual. Thus in 
the Mammalia the diameter is found to vary from about -^Vu to 
tsVtx °f an mcn 5 an ^ whilst in the mouse it is about ^W> m 
the elephant it is but ^yyo") not double the size, and in some of 
the large ruminants it is much smaller. In Birds, generally the 
globules are larger than in Mammalia, and in Reptiles, larger still. 
It is observable that in the Mammalia, with a few exceptions, the 
globules are round, but in Birds and Reptiles oval. No known 



AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 157 

connection can be traced between these differences and the con- 
dition of the different species as to food, habits, or mode of life. 

A great variety of other particulars are known about the 
blood, but these are all that it is necessary to state for the present 
purpose. In the nutrition of some organs, as the muscles, the 
skin, and the hair, little more is required than to separate some 
of these substances into which the blood so readily divides, and 
give them an organic form ; whilst in others, as the bones, the 
glands, the nerves, and the brain, beside the separation of the 
proper materials, a much more elaborate process takes place, by 
which a new texture is manufactured, very unlike, in its charac- 
teristics, any of the forms which the blood spontaneously assumes. 

From the blood are formed not only all the organs of the body 
but also all its fluids. The tears, the saliva, the sweat, the gastric 
juice, the bile, are all separated from it by different organs. Some 
of them, like the sweat and the tears, seem to be little more than 
the simple straining off of its watery and saline ingredients ; 
whilst others, as the gastric juice and the bile, imply a peculiar 
chemical combination of a very curious and wonderful character. 

The constituent parts into which the blood is thus divided are 
known as its proximate or secondary elements, and they are, as 
has been intimated, directly concerned in the formation of the 
different textures. But the blood is capable of an analysis of 
another kind, by which it is reduced to its chemical ingredients. 
Of these, there are twelve in number constantly present, beside 
some others that are occasionally detected. They are carbon, 
oxygen, hydrogen, azote or nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, 
chlorine, potassa, soda, lime, and magnesia. These are called 
the primary or ultimate elements, and more or less of these, com- 
bined in different proportions, constitute the secondary or proxi- 
mate elements. The greater part of the bulk of the proximate 
elements is made up of the four first-named of the ultimate, 
namely, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and, consequently, 
they are apt to be regarded as the most essential. Strictly speak- 
ing, this is not the case. Those existing in a smaller proportion 
are probably as necessary to the complete elaboration of the tex- 
tures as those existing in a larger. Thus phosphorus may be as 
necessary to the composition of the brain, lime to that of the 



158 OF THE FOOD, DIGESTION, 

bones, sulphur to albumen, and iron to the red globules, though 
present in very small quantities, as the above-named four ele- 
ments are in order to make up the chief bulk of the same 
parts. 

The secondary or proximate elements of the blood are taken 
into the body already manufactured by the plants or animals 
which furnish our food. Our aliments, from whatever source 
derived, are very similar to each other in their intimate composi- 
tion, and the process of digestion does not so much create them 
as give to them an appropriate form and structure. Milk, the 
only substance which seems to be prepared solely as aliment 
for the higher animals, may be taken as a type of the true 
constitution of food, that is, as containing every ingredient which 
is essential to the formation, nourishment, and growth of all the 
textures. Milk contains, 1. whey, which includes some albumen 
and a certain proportion of sugar ; 2. curd, which is also albu- 
minous but approaches in its character to the coagulum or fibrine 
of the blood ; 3. cream, an oleaginous ingredient ; and 4. water, 
as a diluent of the whole. These correspond to and repre- 
sent very accurately the essential character of all the different 
aliments which are taken as food by man and the higher animals. 
Into the composition of all enters, in the first place, a large pro- 
portion of water, which constitutes the greatest part of the bulk 
of every living thing ; 2. saccharine aliments, which include not 
only sugar, properly so called, but also all those substances in 
their chemical composition analogous to sugar, such as the various 
edible grains, rice, arrowroot, and the vegetable acids ; 3. the 
albuminous aliments, as the flesh of animals, the eggs of birds, the 
gluten of wheat, and certain portions of other grains and seeds ; 
4. the oleaginous aliments, as butter, fat, and oils of every kind, 
both vegetable and animal, and substances analogous to oils, as 
wine, and alcohol, cider, and other fermented liquids. 

These classes are capable of many subdivisions, but all the 
articles upon which we live may be arranged under one or the 
other. 

Beside these, many substances not entering into either class 
are employed with our food, either to give it taste or to stimulate 
the stomach. Such are mustard, pepper, cinnamon, and other 






AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 159 

articles of the same kind. They are called condiments. Among 
these is usually included common salt. This stands, however, 
upon a somewhat different ground from the other condiments, 
since it is a mineral substance, and is not digested, but enters 
unchanged into the composition of the blood and textures. It 
enters, indeed, more or less into the composition of most articles 
of food, but not usually in sufficient quantity to supply the ne- 
cessities of the system. Consequently it is almost universally 
added to food, and a demand is felt for it not only by man but by 
many animals. It is sought with great avidity, especially by 
those residing in the interior of continents. In the interior of 
Africa it is regarded as a great luxury, the natives prize it as 
children sugar, and they use as a substitute an impure car- 
bonate of soda, which is obtained from one of their lakes. The 
excess and deficiency of salt may either of them be productive 
of disease. 

The quantity of food required by man and other animals varies 
very much with age and with the kind of life which they lead. 
Young animals require more in proportion to their bulk than 
older, because this is the period of growth, and the rate of growth 
is almost in an inverse ratio to the age. A new-born child 
doubles its weight frequently in the course of a few months ; a 
child five years old does not double it in as many years, and 
the rate of increase is less and less as life advances, till it becomes 
stationary. Finally in old age the body usually diminishes in 
size. But the rapidity of growth is much greater in many of 
the lower animals. There are some worms so small when they 
first come from the egg, that it requires from twenty -five to thirty 
of them to weigh a grain. After twenty-four hours, they have 
so increased in size that one will be found to w T eigh seven grains, 
that is to say, their bulk has increased about two hundred times 
in the course of one day. In order to this they are constantly 
feeding. This is an extreme case ; but in the larvas of many 
insects, as the common caterpillar, a great rapidity of growth 
may be observed. In general, the short-lived animals increase 
in size much faster than those whose term of existence is pro- 
longed. 



160 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

CHAPTER II. (W.) 

CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

In Man, as has been already stated in the Introduction, the 
circulation is double, and is carried on by a double heart, or, in 
fact, by two hearts, which, though united together in one mass, are 
yet entirely distinct in their office. One heart receives the blood 
by veins from the body, and sends it by arteries to the lungs ; this 
is the right side of the organ. The other receives it by veins 
from the lungs, and sends it by arteries to the body ; this is the 
left side. The blood thus makes two circuits, each beginning and 
terminating at the heart, and these two circuits make up the com- 
plete circulation. (Figs. 4 and 5.) 

The time occupied for the circulation of any particular portion 
of blood, is astonishingly short. The heart expels about two 
ounces at every contraction ; and of these about seventy-five 
take place in each minute. Supposing the quantity of the blood 
to be about thirty pounds, a quantity equal to this will pass 
through each side of the heart every three minutes, or twenty 
times an hour. But the motion of the blood is, under some 
circumstances, much more rapid than this ; and there are facts 
which show that some portions of it may leave the heart and 
return to it in less than a minute. 

The blood is not propelled through the arteries in a regular, 
even current, but by successive waves, which correspond to the 
contractions of the heart. Hence in a wound of one of these 
vessels, it flows in a series of jets, like the water from a forcing- 
pump. This motion causes the pulse. From the veins, on the 
contrary, it flows in a steady, continued stream, as we see it in a 
person who is bled. 

The mode in which the arteries are distributed over the body, 
is worthy of notice. All wounds of them are attended with 
danger, and a division of the larger is often speedily fatal from 
loss of blood. They are secured from this in great measure, by 
the position they are made to occupy, and the manner in which 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 161 

they are distributed along the limbs. In the upper extremity, 
for instance, the main artery is protected by the collar-bone, under 
which it passes to the arm ; thence it creeps down the inside 
of the bone, deeply buried beneath the flesh, to the elbow ; and 
in a similar way, deeply covered by flesh, it goes down to the 
wrist. Everywhere the parts most exposed are free from large 
arteries, so that none but deep or unusual wounds are likely to 
reach them. 

Another circumstance in this distribution is equally worthy of 
remark. It is obvious, if the vessel passed along the outside 
of a limb, or the outside of a joint, that, when the limb was bent, 
its coats would be put upon the stretch ; it would be compressed, 
and the free passage of blood obstructed. This is prevented 
by the arrangement just described. For the same purpose, 
it does not run in a straight line, but has many turnings and 
windings in its course. This enables us to make violent and 
extensive motions without any compression, or strain of its coats, 
and in this way obstruction to the flow of blood, and injury to the 
vessels, are prevented. 

The constant passage of the blood is necessary to the life and 
action of every organ. When interrupted, the part immediately 
ceases to perform its office, and if the interruption continue, it 
dies. So too, if the circulation of the vital organs be cut off, 
death of the whole body takes place at once; and hence it is, that 
ruptures or wounds or diseases of the heart cause death so sud- 
denly. 

But it is not only necessary that blood should be circulated to 
every part, but that this should be blood which has been sub- 
jected to the influence of the air in respiration. The venous or 
black blood is incapable of supporting life; and if respiration be 
suspended so that this is sent to the organs, instead of the red or 
arterial, the effect is as certainly fatal — though less speedily — 
as the suspension of the circulation altogether. 

In the whole compass of Nature there is perhaps no single 
created thing which is so justly an object of attention and admira- 
tion as the heart, and this chiefly because its structure and mode 
of action are such that we almost perfectly understand them. To 
a cursory view it appears to be merely a mass of red flesh, not 



162 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

larger than the hand, and yet by a careful examination of its 
structure, there is found within its walls a mechanism which 
keeps up the motion of the blood, and is necessary every mo- 
ment to the life of the system. There is no organ in which we 
more clearly see the connection between the object intended 
and the means by which it is accomplished. There may be 
some differences of opinion about minor details in its mechanical 
action ; but as to the general purpose, the play of its valves, 
the uses of its cavities, and the course of the blood through 
them, all is as clear as the movements of a common pump. 

It is worthy of notice that the structure of those natural objects 
which most closely resemble instruments of human invention, pro- 
duces upon us the most forcible impression as evidences of design 
in their creation. No organs, for example, are so frequently ad- 
duced by the Natural Theologian as illustrations to enforce the 
great truths he would establish, as the eye and the heart. There 
are none which, in the principles upon which they are constructed, 
resemble so nearly pieces of mechanism contrived by man. The 
eye is a perfect optical instrument, and may be very closely imi- 
tated, except as to that mysterious power by which it communicates 
with the mind. So too the heart, — although its power of contrac- 
tion is derived from the vital forces, whose nature is equally 
mysterious, — propels the blood upon purely hydrostatic principles ; 
and its valves resemble, in the office they perform and the mode 
in which they determine the current of the blood, those which 
are constantly employed, for a great variety of purposes of an 
analogous nature, in the arts. It is only an object of greater 
admiration than the eye, inasmuch as its office is so much more 
important, and its connections with other parts concerned in the 
circulation so complicated and yet so clear. 

It seems at first singular that those works of the Deity should 
excite so much of our admiration, which come the nearest to our 
own humble inventions. Yet it is an undoubted fact. It is ex- 
plained by reflecting that in such cases we understand clearly 
the connection between the means used and the end obtained ; 
and we understand it because the means are like those we have 
used, and the end analogous to those we have sought. In other 
organs it is not so. The conversion of food in the stomach and 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 163 

intestines into blood, is as wonderful a process, so far as the end 
obtained is concerned, but we know very little of the manner in 
which the means employed bring it about. The heart almost 
declares its own office, but there is nothing in the structure of the 
stomach, or the known properties of the gastric juice, to suggest 
the remarkable transmutation they effect. No one object in 
Nature is probably in itself more indicative of creative power 
and wisdom than another. But we understand some far better 
than others ; and in proportion as we comprehend, we admire. 

By respiration the blood is exposed, in its passage through the 
lungs, to the influence of the air, and by this influence some 
change is effected, which restores the vitality it has lost in its 
circulation through the rest of the body. 

By the air is meant that common elastic fluid which envelops 
the whole earth, and extends to a certain distance from its sur- 
face. It constitutes what is called the atmosphere. By its 
weight, its compressibility, and its pressure in all directions, it 
insinuates itself into every vacuity; and its presence is abso- 
lutely necessary to the existence of every vegetable and animal. 
In order, however, to understand the manner in which it con- 
tributes to the support of living things, it is necessary to know 
something of its composition. 

Although the air, as we breathe it, seems to be a simple and 
homogeneous fluid, it is in fact composed of two distinct constitu- 
ent or elementary parts, upon the mixture or combination of 
which its adaptation to the preservation of life depends. It con- 
tains, besides these, some other ingredients of minor importance. 
These main elements are two permanently elastic fluids or gases, 
called oxygen, and nitrogen or azote. Atmospheric air contains 
about twenty -three parts, by weight, of the former, and seventy- 
seven of the latter, out of one hundred ; or, since oxygen is the 
heavier of the two gases, twenty-one, by measure, of oxygen, 
and seventy-nine of azote. It is upon the oxygen of the air, 
that its fitness for supporting animal life depends ; for, when an 
animal is confined in a small quantity of air till this is exhausted, 
it dies from suffocation, although the azote remains unaltered. 

No animal can exist in an active state without air, but different 
classes of animals differ very much as to the manner in which 



164 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

the function of respiration is performed. The influence which 
the air exerts upon the blood, produces some change or imparts 
some principle, which renders it fit to be distributed to the body 
for its nourishment. In all the animals with red blood, namely, 
Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, this change consists, so 
far as can be observed, in imparting to the dark-red or venous 
blood, which is sent to the lungs by the heart, a bright red or 
vermilion color. In this state, it is returned to the heart, and 
thence distributed throughout the body by the arteries. 

In the Mammalia, the air is alternately drawn into the lungs, 
and expelled from them, by the action of the diaphragm and 
muscles of the ribs and abdomen. This is called the inspiration 
and expiration of the air, and is constantly going on. In the 
greater part of the animals of this class, if this process be stopped 
but for a few moments, death is the inevitable consequence ; but 
in some species it may be suspended for a longer period. This is 
the case with the seal and the whale. Even men may acquire 
by habit the power of existing a considerable time without breath- 
ing, as is the case with the fishermen who dive for pearls ; but 
many of the stories which have been related with regard to this 
subject are probably destitute of foundation.* 

There are many other kinds of air or gas, which may be 
taken into the lungs, beside the atmospheric ; but no other will 
support life. Even pure oxygen, and nitrous oxide, another 
gas containing oxygen, although they may be breathed longer 
than any other kinds of air, will finally prove fatal. It is only 
when oxygen is combined with azote in the proportions above 
mentioned, that it is adequate to the continued support of life.f 

* Very marvellous accounts have been formerly given of the length of time 
during which persons have remained under water without death. The most 
reliable accounts of the performances of the pearl-fishers render it probable 
that they cannot endure an entire suspension of respiration of more than a 
minute and a half or two minutes. 

t Water destroys the life of animals, merely by preventing the admission of 
air; it does not itself enter the lungs, or at most only in a very small quantity. 
There are some gases which operate in the same way. The Windpipe is spas- 
modically closed against them, and they do not enter the lungs ; such are car- 
bonic acid gas, ammoniacal gas, chlorine or oxymuriatic gas, &c, when un- 
mixed. Some other gases are inspired with sufficient ease, but produce death, 
either merely for the want of oxygen, as hydrogen and pure azote ; or, in a cer- 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 165 

The quantity of air ordinarily contained in the lungs of a com- 
mon-sized man, immediately after an inspiration, has been cal- 
culated to be about two hundred and eighty cubic inches, and 
about forty inches are drawn in and thrown out at each inspira- 
tion and expiration ; so that the whole mass of air is not changed 
at every breath, but a large proportion remains constantly pres- 
ent, and distends the lungs. 

If the air which has been respired be examined, a change will 
be found to have taken place in its composition. A part of its 
oxygen has disappeared, and in its place is found about the same 
bulk of carbonic acid or fixed air. There is also a considerable 
quantity of watery vapor. This change is undoubtedly con- 
nected, with the effect produced upon the color of the blood in 
respiration ; and many have endeavored to give some account 
of the mode in which it takes place. But it is a process which 
we shall probably never be able fully to understand. A similar 
change is produced upon the air respired by all animals of what- 
ever class. 

The degree of heat in animals is generally proportioned to the 
vigor and quantity of respiration. The temperature of birds is 
higher than that of quadrupeds, and they consume a greater 
quantity of air. Reptiles and fishes have cold blood, and the 
amount of respiration in them is comparatively small. The 
same remark is true of all cold-blooded animals. The latest and 
most generally received theory of animal heat attributes its pro- 
duction to the .actual combustion of carbonaceous matter in the 
body by its union with oxygen. Although there is no reasonable 
doubt that this explanation is mainly the true one, yet there are 
many facts which it does not account for, and it is probable there 
are other considerations to be had in view in order that it shall 
embrace all the phenomena. 

It is a remarkable and interesting fact, that, notwithstanding 
the immense consumption of oxygen which takes place in order 

tain sense, by poisoning the blood or destroying its vital properties, as carbu- 
retted and sulphuretted hydrogen, and carbonic oxide. Oxygen alone, as has 
been remarked above, and nitrous oxide, which contains a greater proportion 
of it than atmospheric air, are capable of supporting life for a considerable 
period, but finally prove fatal. The latter is celebrated for its intoxicating and 
exhilarating effects, when respired. 



166 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

to the maintenance of animal life, the proportion of it present in 
atmospheric air remains exactly the same under all circum- 
stances. The healthiness of different regions and different lo- 
calities does not at all depend, as is often supposed, upon the 
character of the air in this respect. At the highest elevations 
above the earth, and at the lowest depths beneath it, the propor- 
tion of oxygen is the same. The poisonous miasmata of marshes, 
the noisome effluvia of hospitals, and infectious atmospheres which 
communicate disease, are all precisely alike in this respect. They 
depend for their noxious qualities upon the mixture of some other 
deleterious ingredient not always appreciable by chemical tests. 
Doubtless in closed rooms where many persons breathe the same 
air for a long period, and where many lights are burning^ defi- 
ciency of oxygen may exist. Still, the injurious effects of such 
an atmosphere are probably owing rather to the presence of other 
agents, especially carbonic acid and carbonic oxide, than to the 
diminished amount of oxygen. 

Respiration commences immediately after birth, and at the 
same time a change is produced in the course of the circulation. 
Before birth, only a very small proportion of the blood is carried 
through the lungs ; but after birth, and through life, the whole 
of it. The connection between the action of the lungs and that 
of the heart, is very close and important. The functions they 
perform are mutually dependent, and neither can go on alone. 
If the circulation cease by the cessation of the action of the 
heart, respiration is immediately interrupted. If, on the other 
hand, respiration be impeded, the heart does not stop at once ; 
but as the dark, venous blood is no longer changed in its proper- 
ties, as usual, in the lungs, it is returned to the heart in the same 
state, and is then sent through the body ; and being unfit for the 
purposes of life, destroys it, by cutting short the action of all the 
organs. The effect of its contact upon the brain is an immediate 
suspension of life ; and if the cause be long continued, it is never 
restored. But in many cases of this kind, as in persons appar- 
ently drowned, circulation and respiration may be renewed, if 
they have not been too long interrupted, by artificial respiration, 
and by the application of warmth and stimulating substances to 
the body. 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 167 

Beside these uses of the function of respiration, it is made 
subservient to a number of other important purposes. All ani- 
mals furnished with lungs express their wants, their affections 
and aversions, their pleasures and pains, either by words, or by- 
sounds peculiar to each species. These are produced by differ- 
ent changes in the windpipe or canal through which the air is 
drawn into the lungs. The inferior animals are by this means 
enabled to maintain some sort of communication with others of 
the same species. But how far they are intelligible one to an- 
other, it is impossible to ascertain. * On man alone, Nature has 
bestowed the faculty of speaking, or of expressing his various 
feelings and ideas, by a regular, extensive, and established com- 
bination of articulate sounds. To have extended this faculty to 
the brute creation, would not, it is probable, have been of any 
use to them ; for, though some animals can be taught to articu- 
late, yet none of them seem to have any idea of the proper 
meaning of the words they utter. 

' Speech is performed by a very various and complicated ma- 
chinery. In speaking, the tongue, the lips, the jaws, the whole 
palate, the nose, the throat, together with the muscles, bones, and 
cartilages of which these organs are composed, are all employed. 
This combination of organs we are taught to use when so young, 
that we are hardly conscious of the laborious task, and far less 
of the manner in which we pronounce different letters and words. 
The mode of pronouncing letters and words, however, may be 
learned by attentively observing the different organs employed 
by the speaker. By this means we are enabled to correct the 
various defects of speech, and even to teach the dumb to speak ; 
for dumbness is seldom the effect of imperfection in the organs 
of speech, but generally arises from a want of hearing ; and it is 
impossible for deaf men to imitate sounds which they never heard, 
except they be taught to use their organs by vision and by 
touching. 

' When about to laugh, we make a very full inspiration, which 
is succeeded by frequent, interrupted, and sonorous expirations. 
When the titillation is great, whether it arises from the mind 
or body, these convulsive expirations sometimes interrupt the 
breathing to such a degree as to endanger suffocation. Mod- 



168 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

erate laughing, on the contrary, produces health ; by agitating 
the whole body, it quickens the circulation of the blood, gives an 
inexpressible cheerfulness to the countenance, and banishes every 
kind of anxiety from the mind. 

' In weeping, we employ nearly the same organs as in laugh- 
ing. It commences with a deep inspiration, which is succeeded 
by short, broken, sonorous, and disagreeable expirations. The 
countenance has a dismal aspect, and tears are poured out. 
Weeping originates from grief, or other painful sensations either 
of body or mind. When full vent is given to tears, grief is 
greatly alleviated. Both laughing and weeping have been reck- 
oned peculiar to man/ and in the proper sense of these terms, 
this idea is well founded. Animals do not seem capable of those 
emotions which occasion them in man. They have no perception 
of humor, no sense of the ludicrous, on the one hand, nor of the 
moral sentiment of grief or sorrow on the other. They are 
simply capable of pleasure and pain, and these they indicate by 
symptoms or cries which are understood by the individuals of 
each species, and in many instances by man. ' A dog, when hurt, 
complains in the bitterest terms ; and when he is afraid, or per- 
haps melancholy, he expresses the situation of his mind by the 
most deplorable howlings. A bird, when sick, ceases to sing, 
droops the wing, abstains from food, utters melancholy, weak 
cries, and exhibits every mark of depressed spirits. By this 
means, animals intimate the assistance they require, or soften 
those who maltreat them. Their plaintive cries are sometimes 
so affecting as to disarm their enemies, or to procure the aid of 
their equals. On the other hand, when animals are pleased or 
caressed, they discover, by their countenance, by their voice, by 
their movements, unequivocal symptoms of cheerfulness and 
alacrity of mind. Thus the expressions of pleasure and pain by 
brute animals, though not uttered in the precise manner with 
those of the human species, are analogous, and answer the 
same intentions of Nature.' 

The respiration of Birds is carried on by an arrangement of 
the lungs very different from that of the Mammalia. They are 
enabled to transmit air to almost every part of their bodies, by 
means of membranous sacks or bags, which receive it from the 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 169 

lungs through certain orifices or passages on the surface of these 
organs. The lungs themselves are firmly attached to the ribs, 
and are almost incapable of dilatation or contraction, but the air 
passes through them into the sacks by the combined action of 
various muscles. In this way it is diffused not only throughout 
the thorax and abdomen, but extends even to the cavities of many 
of the bones, which are distinguished from the others by their 
lightness, their white color, and the absence of any bloody matter 
or marrow in their cavities. 

This provision answers several important purposes. It ren- 
ders birds lighter, in proportion to their bulk, than animals whose 
bones are filled with marrow or other solid substances, and thus 
gives them some advantage in flight ; and generally in birds of 
the longest and highest flights, as eagles, this extension or diffu- 
sion of air is carried farther than in others. But a more impor- 
tant object of it probably is, to contribute to the muscular strength 
of these animals, by producing a very extensive operation upon 
the blood. The motions of birds in flight require a much greater 
expenditure of power, than those of walking or running in other 
animals. This power depends upon the circulation of the red, 
arterial blood in the muscles which exert it, and in order to in- 
crease the pi-oportion of this, the influence of the air is carried 
over the whole system, instead of being confined to the lungs 
alone. It has been found that birds consume, in proportion to 
their size, more air than quadrupeds ; and this arises from its 
extensive influence upon the blood. Thus, two sparrows were 
found by Lavoisier to require as much for their existence as 
a guinea-pig, an animal many times as large. Another use 
ascribed to this arrangement by Mr. Hunter, is that of acting, in 
some degree, as a reservoir of air, to prevent the necessity of fre- 
quent respiration, which may be supposed inconvenient to birds 
while moving rapidly on the wing. 

The voice of birds is more remarkable and beautiful than that 
of any other animal except man ; and, on account of the large 
quantity of air which they have at command, it is much more 
powerful. But the sounds uttered by man and quadrupeds are 
produced by an organ situated at the top of the windpipe, called 
the larynx, with the assistance of the mouth ; whilst, in birds, the 
8 



170 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

organ of voice, or larynx, is situated at the spot where it divides 
into two parts to go to the iungs on each side, that is to say, at 
the bottom of the throat. The variations of note are produced 
by a little membrane in the tube, which is made to vibrate by the 
air ; and by means of a number of muscles, which either tighten 
or relax it, it is made to give the various notes. Hence, in sing- 
ing, birds seldom close or make any motions with their beaks. 
That the voice is produced at this place, is proved by the fact 
that it sometimes continues for a short time after the head has 
been removed. The other parts of the windpipe are not, how- 
ever, without their use. Some changes of tone are produced by 
shortening or lengthening it, and others by contracting or en- 
larging its upper opening into the mouth. The organ of voice, 
in fact, resembles in many respects a musical instrument, and the 
excellence and beauty of the notes of birds depend very much 
upon imitation and education. The nightingale, if secluded 
in a cage when young, never sings so perfectly as in the wild 
state, unless exposed in a place where it can hear the song of 
those which are at liberty. Many birds are capable of imitating 
a great variety of sounds, and some have been taught to sing very 
accurately tunes of human composition, merely by playing them 
upon some instrument in their hearing. 

' The lungs of Reptiles do not consist, like those of the Mam- 
malia and Birds, of a solid organ penetrated in every direction 
by the air tubes, but of a number of bags of a membranous tex- 
ture, into which the air is conveyed. In some, this is effected by 
the motion of the ribs and muscles of the abdomen, as in serpents 
and lizards. In others, as in frogs and tortoises, the air is swal- 
lowed. Respiration in these animals is not performed so regu- 
larly and constantly as in the higher classes. Only a compara- 
tively small proportion of the blood is subjected to the influence 
of the air at once ; and they can subsist for a very considerable 
time without breathing, though its suspension at length destroys 
them. Tortoises have been known to live more than a month 
with their jaws tied closely together, and their nostrils filled with 
sealingwax. A toad lived for five days in a jar containing about a 
hundred cubic inches of air. In forty inches, another toad lived 
for twenty-four hours, and a frog for fifty-nine. This is many 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 171 

times longer than a warm-blooded animal could exist under the 
same circumstances.' 

The temperature of the bodies of reptiles is generally that 
of the air and water in which they are found. Still they have 
the power of resisting, during life, both very high and very low 
temperatures ; and as their heat is seldom, under any circum- 
stances, raised to a degree near to that of our bodies, they are 
designated as cold-blooded animals. This circumstance proceeds, 
probably, in some way from the limited quantity of their respi- 
ration ; and with the same cause is connected their inferior 
power of motion, their tendency to the dormant state, and in 
general their low degree of vital power. 

The respiration of Fishes is carried on by means of gills or 
branchias, to which the air is applied through the medium of the 
water. Every portion of water contains a certain quantity of 
air combined or mixed in some way with it, and by this means is 
made capable of supporting respiration. A current of water is 
constantly passed over the gills by the action of the mouth, and 
produces the requisite change upon the blood circulating through 
them. This change is of the same kind with that taking place 
in the warm-blooded animals. It arises from the influence of 
the oxygen in, the atmospheric air ; and, if the water be exam- 
ined after fishes have respired it, the air it contains will be found 
to have undergone a similar change of composition with that 
breathed by quadrupeds and birds. 

* When a free communication with the external air is pre- 
vented by ice, or by artifice, fishes immediately discover symp- 
toms of uneasiness, and soon perish. JElian informs us that, in 
winter, when the river Ister was frozen, the fishers dug holes in 
the ice ; that great numbers of fishes resorted to these holes ; and 
that their eagerness was so great that they allowed themselves to 
be seized by the hands of the fishermen. Rondeletius made 
many experiments on this subject. If, says he, fishes are put 
into a narrow-mouthed vessel filled with water, and a communi- 
cation with the air be preserved, the animals live, and swim about, 
not for days and months only, but for several years. If the mouth 
of the vessel, however, be closely shut, either with the hand or 
any other covering, so that the passage of the air is excluded, 



172 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

the fishes suddenly die. Immediately after the mouth of the 
vessel is closed, the creatures rush tumultously, one above an- 
other, to the top, contending which of them shall soonest receive 
the benefit of the air. In the shallow parts of rivers, when frozen, 
many fishes are found dead. But when parts of a river are deep 
or rapid, the fishes fly from the ice, and by this means avoid 
destruction. 

' These, and similar experiments, have been repeated by Mr. 
Willoughby and many other modern authors ; and they have 
uniformly been attended with the same event. A carp, in a 
large vessel full of water, was placed in the receiver of an air- 
pump. In proportion as the air was exhausted by working the 
pump, the surface of the animal's body was covered with a num- 
ber of bubbles. The carp soon breathed quicker, and with more 
difficulty. A little after, it arose to the surface in quest of air. 
The bubbles on its surface next disappeared ; the belly, which 
before was greatly swollen, suddenly collapsed ; and the animal 
sunk to the bottom, and expired in convulsions.' 

Air is distributed in the bodies of Insects by a great number 
of tubes or canals, called trachece, which convey it to every part. 
These communicate with the external air by means of openings 
called stigmata, which furnish a constant supply. That these 
organs are destined for the transmission of air, has been proved 
by repeated experiments ; for when stopped up by the applica- 
tion of oil, or other unctuous substances, the animals soon lose 
their existence. In some insects they protrude externally to 
some distance from the body, and have the appearance of one, 
two, or three tails ; and in others they arise from the back and 
sides. 

1 In contemplating the parts of animals, when the uses of these 
parts are not apparent, we are apt to deceive ourselves by rashly 
supposing them to answer purposes for which they were never 
intended by Nature. Impressed with this idea, M. de Reaumur 
was not satisfied with the notion of Godart and others, that the 
long tails of certain worms were intended to keep them steady in 
their motions, and prevent them from rolling. Reaumur observed 
that these worms or grubs could lengthen or shorten their tails at 
pleasure, but that they were always longer than the animal's body. 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 173 

Because these tails have some resemblance to that of a rat, he 
distinguishes the animals by the name of rat-tailed worms. These 
worms are aquatic, and never appear on dry ground till they are 
about to undergo their first transformation. Reaumur, in order 
to observe their economy more closely, collected a number of 
them into a glass vessel filled two inches high with water. At 
first they were considerably agitated, each seemingly searching 
for a proper place of repose. Some of them swam across, 
others attached themselves to the sides, and others rested at the 
bottom of the vessel. In a quarter of an hour they were almost 
entirely tranquil, and Reaumur soon discovered the real use of 
their long tails. Upon examining the vessel, he found that each 
of the animals, in whatever situation it was placed, extended its 
tail exactly to the surface ; that, like other aquatic insects, the 
respiration of air was necessary to their existence ; and that the 
tail, which is tubular, and open at the extremity, was the organ 
by which this operation was performed. In this experiment, the 
distance from the bottom to the surface was two inches, and, of 
course, the tails were of the same length. To discover how far 
the animals could extend their tails, he gradually augmented 
the height of the water, and the tails uniformly rose to the sur- 
face, till it was between five and six inches high. When the 
water was raised higher, the animals immediately quitted their 
station at the bottom, and either mounted higher in the water, or 
fixed upon the sides of the vessel, in situations which rendered it 
convenient for them to reach the surface with the points of their 
tails. These tails consist of two tubes, both of which are capable 
of extension and contraction. The first tube is always visible ; 
but the second, which is the proper organ of respiration, is ex- 
erted only when the water is raised to a certain height. Through 
this tube the air is conveyed into two large tracheae or windpipes 
within the body of the animal. When the tails are below the 
surface, they occasionally emit small bubbles of air, which are 
visible to the naked eye ; and immediately are extended to the 
surface for fresh supplies. These worms pass the first and long- 
est part of their lives under water ; when near the time of their 
transformation, they leave the water, go under the ground, and are 
there transformed into chrysalids ; and, lastly, from this state they 



174 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

are transformed into flies, and spend the remainder of their ex- 
istence in the air. 

6 Another species of aquatic worm merits attention, They 
frequent marshes, ditches, and stagnating waters. Their general 
color is a greenish brown. Their bodies consist of eleven rings ; 
and their skin is not crustaceous, but rather resembles parchment. 
Though these animals, before their transformation into flies, live 
in water, air is necessary to support their principle of life ; and 
the apparatus with which Nature has furnished them for that 
important purpose, deserves our notice. The last ring or termi- 
nation of their bodies is open, and serves as a conductor of air. 
From this last ring proceed a number of hairs, which, when 
examined by the microscope, are found to be real feathers with 
regular vanes. In particular situations, they bend the last ring 
in such a manner as to reach the surface of the water or mud in 
which they are placed. These feathers prevent the water from 
entering into the tube, or organ of respiration ; and when the 
animal raises the termination of its body to the surface, in order 
to receive air, it erects and spreads the feathers, and by this 
means exposes the ends of the tube to the atmosphere. When 
cautiously cut open, two large vessels, or tracheae, appear on each 
side, and occupy almost one half of the body. Both of these 
windpipes terminate in the open tube, or last ring. Though 
these worms are furnished with organs of respiration, and actually 
respire air, yet M. de Reaumur discovered that some of them 
could live more than twenty-four hours without respiration. 

' So anxious is Nature to provide animals, in every state of 
their existence, with air, that, after the transformation of many 
insects into chrysalids, she creates instruments for that purpose, 
which did not exist previous to their transformation. The rat- 
tailed worms, formerly mentioned, soon after they are transformed 
into chrysalids, instead of a soft, pliable skin, are covered with a 
hard, crustaceous substance, seemingly impervious to the air ; 
and the tail, which was the windpipe of the animal in its first 
state, gradually vanishes. In a few hours, however, four hollow 
horns shoot out, two from the fore, and two from the hind part 
of what was the head of the animal. These horns, which are 
hard and tubular, are discovered to be real windpipes, destined 



CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 175 

for the introduction of air into the chrysalis, a state in which the 
animals have the appearance of being almost totally' dead, and, 
of course, would seem to have little use for respiration. It is 
likewise discovered- that these horns, which pierced the hard 
exterior covering, terminate in as many tracheae in the body of 
the animal. This fact affords a strong example of the necessity 
of air for sustaining the principle of life, even in its lowest con- 
dition. After these animals pass from the chrysalis state to that 
of flies, they are deprived both of their tails and horns. But 
Nature, in this ^ last stage of their existence, has not left them 
without proper resources for the introduction of air into their 
bodies. Instead of protuberant tracheal in the form of tails or 
horns, they now, like other flies, receive air by means of stigmata, 
or holes, variously disposed over different parts of the body. 

< The nymphs of the libellula, or dragon-fly, respire water by 
an aperture at the termination of their bodies. These nymphs 
sometimes throw out the water, at certain intervals, with such 
force that the stream is perceptible at the distance of two or 
three inches from their bodies. When kept some time out of the 
water, the desire or necessity of respiration is augmented, and 
accordingly, when replaced in it, inspirations and expirations are 
repeated with unusual force and frequency. If you hold one of 
these nymphs in your hand, and apply drops of water to the 
posterior end of its body, it instantly, by an apparatus similar to 
the piston of a pump, sucks it in, and the dimensions of its body 
are visibly augmented. This water is again quickly thrown 
out by the same instrument. But though this insect respires 
water, air seems to be not the less necessary to its existence; 
for, like other insects, the whole interior part of its body is 
amply provided with large and convoluted tracheae ; and, exter- 
nally, there are several stigmata destined for the introduction of 
air. 

' The worms and nymphs of the ephemeron flies merit atten- 
tion. They have received the denomination of ephemeron be- 
cause very few of them survive the day in which they are trans- 
formed into flies. Many of them live not one hour after their 
transformation. When in the worm and nymph states, they 
generally live in holes near the surface of the water ; and under 



176 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

these two forms, continue to grow till they are mature for passing 
into the last and shortest period of their existence. Swammer- 
dam informs us that some of them remain three years under 
water, others two, and others one only. 

' On each side of their bodies there are six or seven protu- 
berances, which have the appearance of so many oars. With 
these instruments the animals describe arches in the water, first 
on one side, and then on the other, with astonishing rapidity. 
This circumstance led Clutius, and some other authors, to think 
that these protuberances were fins, or instruments, of motion, and 
that the animals were fishes. But Reaumur remarked, that they 
moved these fins with the same rapidity when the animals were 
at rest as when they were in motion ; and that, instead of fins, 
when examined by the microscope, he discovered them to be gills 
through which the creatures respire. Each gill consists of a 
short trunk, and two large branches or tubes, which give off on 
all sides a number of smaller ramifications, and are perfectly 
similar to the tracheae of other insects. At the origin of every 
gill, two tracheae penetrate the trunk, and are dispersed through 
the body of the animal.' 

The Crustacea, the Worms, and Mollusca, respire by means of 
gills, which, although they differ in some measure from those 
of fishes, are formed upon the same plan. In a few instances 
they respire air by itself, but in general through the medium of 
water alone. In some animals of these classes the gills are 
situated upon the outside of their bodies, but commonly within. 
Many of the Eadiata have no distinct organs for respiration ; yet 
the air seems, in some way or other, absolutely necessary for 
their existence also, and probably penetrates their bodies, and 
acts upon their blood by means entirely unknown. These ani- 
mals are all cold-blooded. 



HEAT, LIGHT, AND ELECTRICITY. 177 



CHAPTER III. (W.) 

ON THE CONNECTION OF ANIMALS WITH HEAT, LIGHT, AND 
ELECTRICITY. 

The power possessed by animals of maintaining a temperature 
independent of the medium in which they live, has been already 
referred to. A certain degree of this power is probably universal, 
but it varies much in different classes, being least in the lower and 
greatest in the higher. In its most limited degree, it is shown by 
the fact that the animal resists the influence of cold and is not 
frozen so speedily as the substances around it, or as it would 
be itself after being deprived of life. But in the lower species, 
vitality is not destroyed even by freezing, as it is, for the most 
part, in the higher. In Fishes the temperature is usually that of 
the water in which they reside, except when this falls very low. 
It is then maintained at a few degrees above it. A few species, 
distinguished by unusual muscular activity, are capable of a still 
greater heat as compared with that of the water ; even ten 
or twelve degrees. Some in the Arctic regions are known to 
have retained life even after having been imbedded for some 
time in ice. 

In • Reptiles the power of resisting the influence of cold is 
somewhat greater. The frog maintains a temperature of be- 
tween thirty and forty degrees, when enveloped in ice reduced 
some degrees below the freezing point. In such cases the ani- 
mal is surrounded by a thin covering of water, which the heat 
of its body prevents from being frozen. 

The bodies of Insects are so small that it is difficult to observe 
their temperature accurately, except where they can be collected 
together in large quantities. There are some facts which seem 
to show that Ihey have considerable power in this respect. From 
observations upon the temperature of bees in winter, it has been 
found that, when the inhabitants of a hive are in a quiescent state, 
their degree of heat does not vary much from that of the air. 
If, however, they are roused and become active, it rises immedi- 
8* 



178 ON THE CONNECTION OF ANIMALS 

ately to seventy or eighty degrees, and this continues as long as 
the state of activity continues. This increase is probably owing 
to the greater energy of respiration and circulation attendant 
upon muscular action. 

The circumstances according to which the temperature of 
insects varies, are still not perfectly understood. In the common 
caterpillar, for example, its increase of heat is not always con- 
nected with increased activity of function. While in an inactive 
condition, their temperature will sometimes rise above that of 
the air, though usually it is the same.* Many more and minute 
observations are necessary, before this subject can be fully com- 
prehended. 

The power of producing and keeping up the heat of animals, 
is closely connected with their life and health. This is particu- 
larly the case with the warm-blooded. This power is least 
vigorous at birth, and increases with age, till it is most perfect 
in the adult. It then again diminishes, and is deficient in old 
age. In order to prevent the disastrous effects of cold, animals 
in a state of nature usually produce their young in spring and 
summer, and in our own species, when this is not the case, with 
all the precautions taken, the mortality of very young infants is 
greater during the cold months than the warm. When life is 
not directly destroyed by causes diminishing the heat of the 
body, their continued influence depresses the vital powers and 
injures the constitution, laying the foundation for future disease. 
The idea, so prevalent, that children may be hardened by ex- 
posure, and by dressing as thinly as possible, is most pernicious, 

* In examining the temperature of the common caterpillars which infest the 
apple-tree, it was found that at 6 a. m., the sun being bright, when the ther- 
mometer in the shade stood at 44° and in the sun at 63°, if introduced into a 
large mass of them collected together on the outside of their nest it rose to 87° ; 
at lh P. M., the sun being obscured, and the air being at 54°, the thermometer, 
within the same nest, into which the animals had retired, rose to 70°: at 4 p. m., 
the air at the same degree, the temperature within was only 65°. 

On several other days the result was mainly the same. The animals in each 
case were in a state of complete inactivity. 

So far as such limited observations suggest any conclusion, they indicate that 
the generation of heat is greatest in the cool of the morning, while the animal 
is in a state of inactivity, but has crawled abroad to bask in the sun, and declines 
gradually in the course of the day. 



WITH HEAT, LIGHT, AND ELECTRICITY. 179 

with regard to their physical management. Those who have a 
robust constitution and an originally strong heat-making capacity, 
survive the ordeal, and the vigor which is natural to them is re- 
garded as the result of the discipline to which they have been 
subjected. As a general rule, infants and children require to be 
more warmly clothed than adults, because not only is their heat- 
making power less, but their bodies, being smaller, are more 
rapidly cooled. 

The heat-making power also varies with climate and season. 
It is greater in cold climates than in warm, and in winter than 
in summer. Repeated exposure to cold is best borne by those 
who, in the intervals of exposure, avail themselves of artificial 
heat; and those bear the cold best, who go into it well warmed 
and clothed. It is a mistake to suppose that those who live in 
houses insufficiently heated are best able to bear exposure 
abroad. This truth is well understood by the inhabitants of 
very cold climates. We are informed by Dr. Kane that the 
Esquimaux, who are frequently exposed to a temperature fifty 
or more degrees below zero, live in cabins whose heat is raised 
to more than ninety degrees. From this they go abroad at once 
into the external air, and are able to endure an almost incredible 
amount of hardship and cold. 

By repeated exposure to cold, particularly when the body is 
not well warmed in the intervals, and under unfavorable circum- 
stances as to clothing and food, the power of generating heat is 
diminished, -and a person suffers from a less amount of exposure. 
Hence, the diseases produced by cold are more prevalent toward 
the latter part of winter and in spring, than in the autumn and 
early winter months. More protection from clothing is neces- 
sary to guard against injury in the former season than in the 
latter. 

The power of generating heat is probably at its minimum at 
the beginning of summer, having been exhausted by the con- 
tinued demand made upon it during the cold months. It accu- 
mulates during the summer, probably because the demand for it 
is so small, and is at its maximum in the beginning of winter. 
Hence it is safer, so far as health is concerned, to defer precau- 
tions against cold in autumn, both in our houses and clothing, 



180 ON THE CONNECTION OF ANIMALS 

than it is to leave them off in spring. We are somewhat de- 
ceived as to this by our sensations. The skin having been used 
to the temperature of winter becomes insensible to the feeling of 
cold, and this is apt to be mistaken for a power of enduring its 
effects. But its injurious effects are not the less likely to follow. 
So, too, persons insufficiently protected by clothing and artificial 
heat, as they experience the sensation of cold less, are sup- 
posed to be also less liable to its injurious effects on the health. 
This, however, is not the case. 

Animals have certain relations to light, as* well as to heat. With 
the luminousness of some insects, as the glowworm and the fire- 
fly, every one is familiar. The number of insects in whom this 
phenomenon is observed is quite large. In some, the light is 
intermittent and seems dependent upon the will of the animal, 
as in the common fire-fly ; in others, as in the glowworm, it is 
more constant. One species of the latter, in which light is 
emitted from the edge of each articulation of the body, and also 
from the spiracles, is one of the most brilliant and beautiful natu- 
ral objects. This light is often called phosphorescent, and in its 
color resembles the glow of phosphorus undergoing a slow combus- 
tion. There is, however, no reason for believing that it has any 
connection whatever with this process. The mode of its pro- 
duction is not understood, but it appears most probable that it is 
owing to a direct power of producing light on the part of the 
animal, analogous in principle to the production of heat and of 
electricity. It is not a more remarkable phenomenon than these, 
and not more inexplicable. Some singular examples have been 
recorded of the luminousness of the human countenance at the 
near approach of death, and it is not impossible that under vari- 
ous circumstances, at present unknowm to us, many animal bodies 
may be capable of emitting light. 

The most numerous of luminous animals are of the very lowest 
class, and inhabit the sea, especially within the tropics. So uni- 
versally diffused are they, that all motion of the water, as by the 
passage of a vessel, the breaking of the waves, their ripple on 
the beach, the dip of oars, all give rise to flashes of light, and 
the wake of a ship is often marked as by a stream of fire.* 

* M. Quatrefagues, in his " Rambles of a Naturalist," gives a vivid account 



WITH HEAT, LIGHT, AND ELECTRICITY. 181 

The absolute necessity of light to the health and development 
of plants is well known. It is hardly less so to that of animals. 
Its influence is most salutary in man, both upon the mind and 
body. It has been found, by actual experiment, that privation of 
light retarded or prevented the transformations of certain ani- 
mals, and it has been observed that there are an unusually large 
number of deformed children among families in the narrow 
streets and dark cellars of cities. The patients in a large 
military hospital were found to present a much smaller mortality 
upon the side exposed to the sun than on the opposite, and a person 
who had large numbers of workmen in his employ asserts that 
the health of those occupied in rooms of a light color was dis- 
tinctly better than in those of a dark. 

A more free and frequent exposure to the influence of the sun's 
rays is probably one of the causes of the better health of those 
who live in the country, over those who live in the city ; and of 
those who move about constantly in the open air, over those who 
work in close and darkened apartments. Two French regiments 
were once under orders to perform a long and toilsome journey 
of several hundred miles in the heat of summer. The com- 
mander of one, in order to spare his men the fancied danger from 
the heat of the day, performed his marches during the night. 
The other travelled by daylight. He reached the end of his 
journey with his men in good condition, having suffered only the 
usual necessary casualties of a long march ; whilst the ranks of 
the other were thinned by disease and death. It is found, in 

of this phenomenon, as occurring in the Mediterranean. His boat seemed as 
if opening for itself a passage through some fused and glowing liquid. Water 
poured from a bucket looked like redhot, molten lead. He is of opinion that 
during the period of reproduction certain microscopic animals among the Crus- 
tacea, Annelida, and Medusae acquire the property of emitting light at each 
muscular contraction. Ehrenberg attributes the phenomenon to a special organ 
like that in the glowworm. It has also been supposed to proceed, in some cases, 
from the slow combustion of a peculiar secretion, by means of air admitted into 
the interior of the body. This has been thought to be confirmed by the facts 
that the light is extinguished when the animal is immersed in carbonic acid, 
and that when exposed in oxygen the same gas is produced. But these results 
are equally explained by the consideration that the influence of carbonic acid 
would necessarily suspend all vital operations, and upon these the evolution of 
light may depend; whilst the extrication of carbonic acid in the oxygen might 
be due to respiration, which in this case would not be interrupted. 



.182 ON THE CONNECTION OF ANIMALS 

the experience of army physicians, that the subjects of disease 
endure it better in open tents than in crowded hospitals ; and an 
eminent military physician states that soldiers with fever en- 
countered it more favorably while the army was in motion, and 
they were transported in wagons, than when it was stationary. 
Much of this difference is no doubt due to the more free venti- 
lation which is thus ensured, but a part may also be fairly attrib- 
uted to the salutary effect of light. 

Regard should be paid to this in the management of the sick, 
and particularly in the case of chronic invalids. There are 
some cases in which there is a peculiar sensitiveness of the 
nervous system in general, or of the eye in particular, w 7 hich 
may render the exclusion of light necessary in the sick-cham- 
ber. But, wherever possible, this should be avoided ; and at any 
rate, it is certain that the practice so common in civilized soci- 
ety, of living in darkened rooms, is as injurious as it is disa- 
greeable. 

The evolution of electricity in the bodies of animals is a well 
established phenomenon. In some this takes place in so remark- 
able a degree that they are capable of communicating a distinct 
shock; and it is supposed that this is intended as a means of 
benumbing their prey, and of defence against enemies. These 
all belong to the class of Fishes. The most celebrated among 
them are the gymnotus, or electric eel, and the torpedo. The 
electricity is developed by means of an apparatus of a peculiar 
structure answering the purpose of a battery, composed of layers 
of membrane divided into hexagonal cells traversed again by 
various membranous partitions, all the cavities thus formed being 
filled with a medullary, pulpy substance, somewhat like that of 
the brain, and supplied very largely with nerves. The mode in 
which this apparatus serves to develop the electric fluid is not 
understood. 

The shock given varies in degree according to the condition of 
the animal, and he may be so exhausted by repeated discharges 
as to render it very feeble. Advantage has been taken of this 
circumstance to aid in their capture. A number of horses are 
driven into the waters they inhabit. Their presence irritates the 
animals, who attack them with vigorous discharges, till they are 






WITH HEAT, LIGHT, AND ELECTRICITY. 183 

exhausted of their power and become quite harmless. They 
are then taken easily by the hand. 

It has been asserted that they are capable of communicating a 
shock for some distance through the water. Also that when one 
of them seizes upon the hook of a fisherman in rainy weather, a 
shock is communicated along the moisture of the line and rod to 
the hands. This, however, seems doubtful, as in ordinary cases 
it is necessary that their bodies should be touched in two places, 
in order to produce the necessary discharge. In this way a shock 
has been known to give rise to an electric spark, and to pass 
through a circle of several persons whose hands were joined. 

Several species of Insects are believed to possess the same 
electrical power, and it is stated, by a late writer, that even 
among the very lowest of the animal kingdom, the Radiata, there 
is evidence of its existence. " I have seen," says he, " a polype 
seize two worms at the same time ; and to reach them the arms 
were extended to such a degree of tenuity as scarcely to be per- 
ceptible without the aid of a lens ; and the worms, though very 
lively, and struggling violently, were unable to break asunder 
these delicate instruments and escape, but in an instant were 
struck motionless. This phenomenon strikingly resembles the 
effect produced by the electric eel, and it is not improbable that 
the hydra, like that fish, kills its prey by an electric shock." 

Electricity is also developed in the bodies of many animals, under 
different circumstances, and without any peculiar apparatus. Va- 
riations in the electric condition of our organs, and currents of the 
electric fluid, are indeed constantly taking place in connection 
with the performance of all our functions ; but these are insensi- 
ble to ordinary observation. In cold weather, electricity is often 
developed by the friction of certain articles of dress, especially 
if of silk, as in drawing off* a stocking or glove. The fur of 
cats often presents the same phenomenon; but it is doubtful 
whether these cases indicate anything more than the accumulation 
of electricity according to its ordinary laws. In some individu- 
als, however, a distinct and independent electrical power has been 
observed. An account was published, a few years ago, of a 
female in this country who possessed a power of emitting sparks 
from her person to surrounding bodies. More recently it appears 



184 ON THE CONNECTION OF ANIMALS, ETC. 

that this is not an uncommon occurrence. It has been found in 
many families, that sparks were emitted when any metallic body 
was touched, as -a shovel, or the stopcock of a gas lamp. Fre- 
quently, too, in the contact of persons, as in kissing, the same has 
been observed. So far as has been noticed, this takes place 
more especially in particular localities, as in certain streets of a 
city. A very remarkable exhibition of the discharge of electric- 
ity from the human body, takes place in the lighting of a gas 
lamp by the tip of" the finger. This the writer has repeatedly 
witnessed. This phenomenon, however, is not due to the spon- 
taneous development of electricity, as in the other instances 
referred to, but to its accumulation by some kind of friction, 
such as shuffling repeatedly over a woollen carpet, or lashing 
a person for some time with a silk handkerchief, while he 
stands upon an insulated stool. These phenomena, like those of 
ordinary electricity, are most successfully produced in particular 
states of the atmosphere, as in the cold, dry weather of winter. 
Still they are not peculiar to this, since Dr. Livingstone speaks of 
a hot wind in South Africa, blowing over the desert from north to 
south, so dry as to warp the best-seasoned furniture, and so highly 
electrical that a bunch of ostrich feathers, held a few seconds 
against it, becomes highly charged, and clasps the hand with a 
sharp cracking sound, whilst the movements of the natives in the 
thicket produce a stream of small sparks. 

The electrical conditions of the atmosphere have undoubtedly 
a considerable effect upon the human frame. Many persons are 
seriously affected during a thunderstorm, under circumstances 
that preclude the supposition that the effects are owing to fear. 
There are those, also, that can predict a storm by a peculiar 
physical condition. Probably much of the influence of certain 
winds upon the system is owing to this cause. It is asserted, 
for example, that the sirocco, a wind very marked in its prostrat- 
ing effects, is negatively electrical. The distinct character of the 
east wind of the Atlantic sea-coast of America, is, it is not un- 
likely, due to its electrical condition, since it cannot be explained 
either by its dampness or its temperature. 

It seems probable, also, that the great sensibility possessed by 
many animals to atmospheric variations may be due to a nice 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 185 

perception of electrical conditions, and a consequent power of 
anticipating changes that are about to occur. It is very certain 
that many of them make provisions, and take precautions, which 
show them to possess some instinctive foresight that is utterly 
beyond any knowledge derived from the observation or the 
science of man. 



CHAPTER IV. (W.) 

MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

All the functions of animal life are dependent for their per- 
formance, to a greater or less extent, upon motions in the organs 
which perform them. On examining the higher classes these 
motions are found to be of two kinds. First, those produced by 
the will of the individual in order to bring about some definite 
purpose, as to satisfy some appetite, to supply some want, to 
express some sentiment, or indicate some intention ; such are 
those which produce the voice, and the movements of the limbs. 
Second, those which take place independently of any purpose or 
consciousness on the part of the individual ; such are the motions 
of the heart, the stomach, and the bloodvessels, by which the vital 
functions are performed. These are under the direction of a 
principle independent of, and yet subservient to, the consciousness 
and will. These involuntary motions are, in their sphere, more 
complete and perfect than the voluntary. The principle which 
guides them is more unerring. Organs, ordinarily under the gov- 
ernment of the will, pass sometimes in part under the influence 
of the involuntary principle, and corresponding motions take 
place, as in the eyes, the countenance, and limbs ; and still fur- 
ther, motions which by frequent repetition become habitual, 
though at first entirely voluntary, pass at last under the same 
influence and become involuntary ; such are the rapid motions of 
the musician, of some artisans, and in fact many others. 

But though in the higher classes the distinction between these 



186 • MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

kinds of motion is so w«ll marked, in the lower it is often not a 
little difficult to draw the line between them. Many of those 
external motions which in the former are clearly under the 
control of the will and the result of intention, in the latter 
afford no more indication of either, than does the contraction of 
the heart or the peristaltic movements of the stomach. 

All voluntary motion is performed by muscles. Probably 
all involuntary motion is so also, but concerning this there has 
been some difference of opinion; though, as to the more important 
ones, as of the heart, the stomach, the alimentary canal, there is 
no doubt. Bones, tendons, and ligaments, constitute important 
portions of the moving apparatus. They represent the inert 
parts of a machine; the muscle, the mechanical power which 
puts the whole in operation. 

The muscles compose a great part of the bodies of most ani- 
mals. The flesh used as food consists chiefly of them. In quadru- 
peds, and in some parts of birds, they are red. In fishes, and in 
most of the lower animals, they are white or approaching to 
white. At first view, flesh appears like an unformed, indiscrim- 
inate mass, but by examination it is found capable of subdivision 
into a great number of perfectly distinct organs, each of which is 
a distinct muscle, whilst each muscle is itself a collection of a 
large number of separate fibres, whose combined contraction 
gives motion to the whole. 

But the muscle is not always itself fixed to the bone which it 
is to move. It often terminates in a tendon, or sinew, which is 
attached to the bone in its place, acting like a cord upon which 
the muscle pulls. Thus muscles are capable of producing motion 
at a distance from themselves. The advantage of this is seen in 
the hand. The purposes of this organ demand a great variety 
of delicate motions, as well as a good deal of strength. Hence 
there is required a large quantity of muscular flesh. Were this 
placed on the fingers, which are to be moved, it would render 
them clumsy and cumbersome. Instead, it is nearly all disposed 
upon the arm, between the elbow and the wrist, and the requisite 
power is transmitted to the hand by long tendons. These produce 
the motions without interfering with the delicacy of the instru- 
ment in which they take place. 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 187 

The size and shape of the trunk and limbs is dependent a good 
deal upon the muscles lying upon them, except when they are cov- 
ered by large quantities of fat. The relative strength of the differ- 
ent parts of the body is determined by their relative quantity of 
muscle. The development of the neck of the ox, the neck and 
fore limbs of the lion, the hind limbs of the kangaroo, the legs of 
the ostrich, are indicative of a peculiar power in those parts, and 
they show that these animals have occasion for peculiar use of 
them. In the same way, men of a particular physical formation 
may be qualified for one occupation rather than another. On the 
other hand, occupations calling for the use of the muscles of partic- 
ular parts bring about a greater development of those muscles. 
A man always working as a blacksmith or as an oarsman will have 
broad shoulders and large brawny arms. Artisans who use exclu- 
sively one arm will have that arm larger than the other. Hence 
occupations that require severe bodily labor usually produce some 
degree of awkwardness in figure and motion. The occupations 
of the richer classes exercise the muscles of different parts more 
equally. Thus the due proportion is maintained between them, 
and the beauty of the figure preserved. Hence, as physical 
qualities are hereditary, the higher classes in many countries are 
a more beautiful race than the lower, who have been confined 
for many generations to extreme labor. This is especially seen 
in the size and delicacy of the hands and feet. ■ 

The power of contraction is an inherent property of muscle. 
This may be called into exercise in various ways. Where it is 
laid bare in a living animal, contraction is produced by pricking 
it with a pin, pouring any sharp liquid upon it, or by an electric 
shock. Even for some time after death it retains this sensibility 
to the same stimulants ; in Birds for a longer time than in Mam- 
malia, and in Reptiles longer than in either. This is shown by the 
apparently voluntary motions observed in the common fowl after 
decapitation ; tortoises will live and move about a long time 
after their brains have been destroyed and their hearts cut 
out. 

But the natural exciter of the contraction of muscles is that 
furnished by the brain and nerves under the direction of the will, 
so far at least as voluntary motion is concerned. The brain 



188 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

furnishes the power, the nerve transmits it to the muscle, and the 
muscle then contracts in accordance with the direction of the^ 
will. The vigor of the motion will depend partly upon the 
power of the muscle, and partly upon the energy of the will. 
Thus a weak man under strong mental excitement, as in a 
violent passion, may make greater exertions of power than a 
stronger man in a lazy, indifferent state of mind. 

Quickness is not always connected with strength of motion, 
though they may be united. It depends more upon the influence 
of the will, and is consequently more capable of development 
by habit. 

The muscles of young animals are less firm of texture than 
those of older, and of less strength in proportion to their bulk. 
Beef and veal furnish examples of this difference. Young ani- 
mals may be seriously and even permanently injured, if obliged 
to make great exertions of strength. Their growth may be 
checked, and the muscles prevented from their perfect develop- 
ment. Those who are engaged in the training of animals are 
aware of this fact. They know perfectly well that the permanent 
value of a horse, for example, may be injured in this way. It 
should be recollected that the young of our own species are as 
delicate, and may be as easily injured. 

Still, in early life, a certain amount of exercise is as necessary 
to the healthy 'growth of the muscles as over-exercise is injuri- 
ous. But it should be the exercise that requires quickness and 
variety of motion rather than strength. Drawing heavy loads, 
lifting heavy weights, are unfit for either young men or young 
animals. Running, jumping, and the various motions which 
require no weight to be lifted or carried, are better suited to 
their physical condition. Even those gymnastic exercises which 
put the moving parts violently upon the stretch may be attended 
with injury. Nature itself prompts the offspring of mankind, 
as well as that of all animals, to the kind and degree of motion 
which will aid in the proper development of the body at this 
period of life. Mere simple motion, for the sake of motion, is to 
them a high physical pleasure ; next to taking food, the greatest 
in the early part of life. Colts, lambs, calves, kids, kittens, 
puppies, and even the whelps of the most ferocious animals, pass 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 189 

the- greater part of their waking hours in running, jumping, and 
gambolling in a thousand ways. 

Even after the period of infancy and childhood, during youth 
and sometimes in mature life, the propensity to motion merely 
for the sake of motion is often displayed, especially when the 
health is good and the mind exhilarated. It shows itself in the 
love of manly games, and more especially of dancing. This last 
has always been a mode in which mankind have delighted 
to display the elevation of the animal spirits, and the love of 
physical motion. It arises from the same disposition in man 
with jumping, running, &c, among animals. It is exhibited in 
its most natural and salutary form among the rude and uncul- 
tivated, and among them often has constituted part of their 
religious rites. It is in fact the natural mode of expressing 
certain feelings. In refined society it is often perverted in its 
character and surrounded by circumstances which interfere with 
its proper purposes. But when indulged in rationally, combined 
with and guided by music, it is not only an elegant amusement 
and an absolute physical enjoyment, but may be made an ele- 
ment of some value in physical education. 

The positions assumed by animals are maintained by the ex- 
ertion of the same organs as those which produce their motions, 
and are therefore to be considered in connection with them. They 
vary according to the structure. Thus we have standing vertically 
upon two feet, as in man ; standing horizontally or obliquely upon 
two feet, as in. birds ; standing upon four feet, as in quadrupeds ; 
with motions corresponding to these modes of standing. 

Man is the only animal which stands vertically on two feet. It 
is a position which requires the exertion of a large proportion of 
the muscles of the body ; and although performed by us with ease 
and without apparent effort, we are very slow in learning it in 
infancy, and it is in itself a nicer feat of balancing than many 
which call forth our wonder at public exhibitions. It is more 
fatiguing than walking, because the muscles which maintain 
the posture are kept constantly contracted and have no period 
of rest, whilst in walking the labor is thrown alternately upon 
different sets of them. 

Standing obliquely on two feet, as in birds, has been sufficiently 



190 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

explained in treating of their peculiar structure. Standing on four 
feet requires less skill and less strength than on two. Hence many 
quadrupeds are able to stand and walk at birth ; for, although 
their feet are smaller than those of man, they form altogether a 
larger base to rest upon. Hence, too, they can sleep in this 
position, and maintain it much longer without fatigue. We have, 
however, one mechanical advantage, which is in them compen- 
sated by a mechanical provision. Our heads, which are quite 
heavy, are balanced upon the end of the spine by a very nice 
adjustment of muscles whose office is best illustrated by the 
effects which follow the loss of control over them, as in drowsi- 
ness and drunkenness. But the heavy head of a quadruped 
at the end of its neck has no similar advantage ; it must 
mainly depend for its support upon the mere strength of its 
muscles acting at a great mechanical disadvantage. They must 
therefore be much stronger than in man. They are also aided 
by an elastic ligament or band, which proceeds from the bones of 
the neck and back, and is fixed to the head. The strength of 
this is proportioned to the weight of the head. Thus in the 
elephant it is very large ; and in the mole, which uses its head to 
support and move great weights of earth, it is bony. 

There are three modes of progression common to animals, — 
w r alking, leaping, and running. In walking the body is always 
sustained upon the earth by at least one of its extremities. In 
leaping it is raised entirely up and projected through the air. 
Running partakes of the character of both. It consists like 
walking in a continued succession of steps, but resembles leap- 
ing in the circumstance that at each step the body is raised from 
the earth, and consequently it is a succession of leaps. In leap- 
ing the muscles make a quicker and more powerful contraction 
than in walking, and hence it is more fatiguing. A horse when 
walking can draw a heavy load for many hours, day after day, 
with little exhaustion ; but upon the run he can go but a few 
hours and carry but a light burden. 

In walking slowly and deliberately upon two feet, the weight 
of the body is thrown alternately upon each, the centre of gravity 
passing successively from one to the other. There is thus a 
lateral motion at each step. But when the pace is rapid, espe- 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 191 

cially in a vigorous person who has no ungainly habits of motion, 
the body is not balanced successively upon each foot, and the 
centre of gravity does not pass entirely from one to the other, but 
remains between the two, moving forward in a line more or less 
direct. There is consequently but little lateral oscillation, and 
the feet are kept near one another. But in young children, in 
the aged, and in the weak, it is difficult to maintain the balance 
under these circumstances ; the centre of gravity is liable to pass 
to one side or the other, out of the line of motion, and the person 
to fall. To obviate this the legs are spread apart, the base upon 
which the body rests is thus enlarged, and the balance more easily 
preserved. 

When from any cause of muscular weakness a difficulty 
exists in keeping the balance, it is rendered easier by quick- 
ening the motion, throwing the weight rapidly from one foot 
to the other, and thus preventing the centre of gravity from 
falling upon either side in the interval between the steps. 
These circumstances explain the peculiar gait of invalids, in- 
fants, and the aged. It is easier to keep the balance in walking 
than in standing, and in running than in walking. Hence the 
drunkard can run when he can neither stand nor walk without 
falling. Hence, also, it is easier to run than to walk upon a 
narrow pathway or upon the ice. 

The motions of the horse combine most of those of which four- 
footed animals are capable. In his walk the body is pushed 
forward by the hind limbs, and one of the fore feet, suppose the 
right, is at the same moment lifted up. To this succeeds almost 
instantaneously the left hind foot. They are then placed upon 
the ground in the same succession, the left hind foot just behind 
the left fore foot. The two other feet go on in the same order, the 
whole striking the ground with a measured beat, easily distin- 
guishable, namely, two sounds very near together, a longer 
interval, and then two more like the first two. In this move- 
ment the hind feet would interfere with the fore feet were the 
steps long ; but this is not the case, and the horse is consequently 
a slow walker, and when taught to mend his pace, it is not by 
taking longer steps, but by taking them more rapidly. 

In the trot one of the fore feet and the hind foot of the op- 



192 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

posite side are lifted from and placed upon the ground together, 
and the body is thrown forward by the two remaining feet, with 
so brisk a motion that it is lifted entirely from the earth and pro- 
jected forward, the four feet being all in the air at once. This 
circumstance enables the animal to move so rapidly with this 
pace, because the hind feet may thus fall into the track of the 
fore feet, or even pass beyond them. 

This diagonal motion is the most natural and seems the 
easiest to the quadruped. Both sides are equally supported, 
and little effort is required to balance the body. 

In the full gallop both the fore feet are raised at once, and the 
body is thrown forward with a leap by the two hind feet. In the 
canter, or half gallop, the motion differs in different animals; the 
feet not being raised or falling together, but at intervals. Some- 
times the two front feet vary whilst those in the rear fall together ; 
and sometimes each of the fore and hind feet falls at distinct 
intervals. 

In the amble, or pace, the two feet of the same side are moved 
together instead of the diagonal ones, so that both are on the 
ground at once, and the body is carried forward with a sort of 
rotary motion. The pace may consist like the trot in a succes- 
sion of leaps, or it may be a mode of the walk. In the latter 
case, as there is no danger of the hind feet interfering with the 
fore feet, as in the common walk, the steps may be made much 
longer and the animal consequently move at a more rapid rate. 

The rack differs from the pace merely in the circumstance that 
the feet of the same side are lifted and put down in quick suc- 
cession, instead of together. The hind foot is first in order, and 
the fore foot of the same side succeeds it at a very short in- 
terval. This is sometimes quite a rapid movement and very 
easy to the rider, since there is none of that jolting which 
accompanies the trot and gallop, but simply an agreeable vibra- 
tory motion. 

In the horse the principal impulse forward is given by the 
hind feet, the fore feet being thrown forward to support the 
body when it descends. This is especially observed in the 
gallop. In some animals, whose hind limbs are much the 
stronger and longer, this is their principal mode of progression 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 193 

when moving with rapidity, as in the squirrel and rabbit. In 
some, as in the kangaroo, the disparity is so great that their 
movements are chiefly effected by very long leaps. In a few 
cases, as in the camelopard and the sloth, the fore limbs are dis- 
proportionately developed, and then the body seems to be dragged 
forward mainly by them. This in some measure is the case with 
the monkey tribe, by whom the act of climbing is performed more 
by the anterior than the posterior limbs. 

Where the power of the four limbs is pretty equally divided, 
the trot is the most natural form of running, though some of the 
smaller animals prefer the gallop. With many species the amble 
is the common pace. This is the case with some animals of the 
cat kind, as the lion, and some of the ruminants, the camelopard, 
the camel, the dromedary, and the llama. 

These motions are performed upon a solid, resisting basis, but 
flying and swimming take place in a yielding medium. In the 
former case the whole force exerted is made to bear on the body 
of the animal ; but in the latter a part is lost by the giving way 
of the air or water, just as when a man springs from a very small 
boat he must make some allowance for its backward motion if he 
wish to reach a certain point. 

When a bird wishes to fly, it begins either by a spring into the 
air from the earth or from some eminence. On the ground, those 
with short legs and large wings find it somewhat difficult to rise. 
A bird, as soon as it is in the air, raises its wings in a state of par- 
tial extension^ and then, expanding them fully, brings them down 
with a smart stroke, which gives an impulse forward and upward. 
They are then rapidly raised and brought down by repeated 
strokes, and the structure and insertion of the large feathers are 
such that they strike the air in falling with a larger surface than 
in rising. 

The flight of birds, especially in rising, is modified by the degree 
of obliquity at which the wings act. In some, their stroke is almost 
directly downward, so that they can rise directly upward. Usu- 
ally, however, especially in those with long wings, the impulse is 
given obliquely backward, so that they can only ascend obliquely. 
Some of the larger birds of prey, as the eagle, falcon, and hawk, 
find it difficult on this account to rise rapidly from the ground, 
9 



194 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

except by flying against the wind. This corrects the too great 
tendency to horizontal motion. A hawk, in rising from a low 
and sheltered piece of ground, will be often observed to fly near 
the surface of the earth for some distance, rising slowly till it 
meets the wind, when the ascent becomes more rapid. 

Swimming, in fish, is mainly produced by the action of the 
tail fin, the others being chiefly instrumental in balancing the 
body, equalizing its motion, and probably also in aiding to ascend 
and descend. Fishes leap by bending their bodies and then 
extending them suddenly, the impulse being thus given from 
the side of the body as well as the fin. In this way they will 
rise into the air many times their length, sometimes in sport, 
sometimes to escape pursuit, and sometimes to ascend a rapid 
or fall. 

There are various other particulars connected with the motionc 
of animals which are worthy of notice. The dromedary has been 
mentioned as among the swiftest of quadrupeds ; at any rate it is 
so for any long distance. For a short course, perhaps, it is 
equalled by the horse. The famous racer Eclipse went at the 
rate of nearly a mile in a minute and a half, and the still more 
remarkable one, Flying Childers, at the rate of nearly a mile in 
a minute. These distances were accomplished on the full gallop. 
The best trotters have made a mile in about two minutes and a 
third ; but the trot can be continued for a longer time than the 
gallop. One of the most remarkable feats both for speed and 
endurance is recorded of an English postmaster, who rode two 
hundred and fifteen miles in eleven hours, employing twenty-one 
horses. This was at the rate of nearly nineteen miles an hour, 
each horse being driven ten miles and a quarter at this speed, 
or a mile in three and one fifth minutes. The reindeer is little 
inferior to the dromedary in speed or endurance. On an emer- 
gency, it will travel with its sledge nearly one hundred miles for 
a single day ; and from sixty to seventy, for several days in suc- 
cession. A fox, when hunted, will run before the hound and 
horse for fifty miles, at a rate which wearies both, and has not 
unfrequently killed the latter. The speed of the hare is nearly 
as great. 

It is true of leaping as well as of running, that the perform- 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 195 

ances of small animals exceed those of the larger in proportion 
to their size. Thus the kangaroo, a tolerably large animal, 
weighing about as much as a sheep, can leap about twenty 
feet, between three and four times its length, whilst the jerboa, 
a native of Canada, a very small animal, leaps fifty times its 
length. This seems at first very remarkable, yet it is in strict 
accordance with the laws of mechanics. The objects of this are 
pretty clear. It gives the smaller species a fair chance of es- 
caping from the larger ; besides, as the texture of their parts 
does not increase in strength and power of resistance in pro- 
portion to their size, the larger animals would be destroyed by 
the concussion, were they capable of exertions proportioned to 
those of the smaller. For the same reason, small animals can fall 
a much greater distance than the larger in proportion to their 
size ; indeed, absolutely a much greater distance. A mouse, a 
squirrel, or a cat may fall fifteen or twenty feet and escape with- 
out harm, whilst a horse, an ox, or an elephant would be irre- 
parably maimed. 

Birds have at once great disposition and great power for motion. 
The ostrich, in whom the amount of muscle, which in other birds 
is appropriated to the movements of the wings, is transferred to 
the legs, is the most rapid of all animals on foot, easily distancing 
the fleetest Arabian horses. But it is in the flight of birds that we 
find the most wonderful exhibitions of speed. The common crow 
can accomplish twenty-five miles an hour, but it is one of the 
slowest of birds. The flight of the eider-duck has been found 
to average ninety miles, the swallow a little more, but the swift 
two hundred and seventy ; and these birds will pass the greater 
part of the daylight upon the wing. Hawks fly at the rate of 
one hundred and fifty miles, and eagles not much, if any, less. 
Several facts are historically recorded, which show that these 
estimates are not probably exaggerated. A falcon, belonging to 
Henry IV. of France, escaped from Fontainebleau, and was 
found, twenty-four hours afterward, at Malta, one thousand three 
hundred and fifty miles distant. This would give fifty-seven 
miles an hour, supposing it to have been all the time upon the 
wing ; which is not likely, so that its speed was not probably 
less than from seventy-five to one hundred miles while in mo- 



196 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

tion. A canary bird has been known to fly from Andalusia to 
the island of Teneriffe in sixteen hours, the distance being about 
eight hundred miles. Birds have been killed in the northern 
States of the Union, in whose crops was found rice undigested 
which must have been eaten in the rice-fields of Carolina. 

Of the rate at which the swimming Mammalia and Fishes 
move, we know much less. It is greater than that of quadrupeds, 
but less than that of birds. Boats and sailing vessels rarely 
exceed ten or twelve miles an hour, but whales and porpoises 
pass by them when under full sail with apparent ease. There is 
reason to believe that true fishes move more rapidly than this. 
The speed of a whale is probably not less than twenty miles an 
hour, and the fish which migrate in shoals go at least as rapidly. 

Some animals possess a capacity for motion dependent upon a 
power of suction that enables them to attach themselves closely 
to objects upon which or over which they wish to move. Many 
insects are able, probably by this provision, to walk along per- 
pendicular walls, or even the ceilings of rooms, as the common 
house-fly. A structure for this purpose has been supposed to 
exist in the walrus and seal, by means of which they are able 
to crawl up the sides of smooth rocks or pieces of ice, and also 
to make an opening from beneath upward, through an expanse 
of ice. 

A species of lizard in the East moves about like an insect, 
and adheres to perpendicular and inverted surfaces with great 
tenacity. Its feet have been found provided with a great number 
of cavities, which act like cupping-glasses and fit them to the 
smoothest surfaces. A kind of fish, called the remora, has upon 
the top of its head a large surface endowed with this power. 
Being naturally of a slow and indolent habit, it thus attaches 
itself to the bodies of other fish, or to the bottoms of vessels, and 
is thus transported from place to place. So aware is it of its 
necessities that, when once attached, it cannot be induced by 
the most tempting bait to quit its hold till the end of its journey. 
It was an ancient belief that this fish had the power of imped- 
ing or even arresting the progress of the vessel to which it 
was attached, and to this was once attributed the loss of the 
battle of Actium. 



MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 197 

There is no class of animals which present the phenomena of 
motion in so varied and remarkable a manner as Insects. They, 
indeed, combine the powers of all the other classes, sometimes 
even in the same individual at different stages of its existence. 
They walk, run, jump, and burrow with the quadruped. They 
fly with the bird. They glide or crawl with the serpent. They 
swim with the fish. The locust by the help of its wings leaps 
two hundred times its own length, and the flea without them a 
corresponding distance. The froghopper exceeds this by one 
quarter, leaping two hundred and fifty times its length. There 
is a kind of spider which spins no web to entangle its prey, but 
secures it by leaping upon it, which it can do even sideways. 
It has been seen to jump two feet upon a humblebee. 

Their rapidity of motion in flight is not less remarkable, and 
some species can fly in all directions without turning. Leuwen- 
hoek once watched a swallow chasing an insect in an inclosure a 
hundred feet long. The little creature flew with such astonishing 
velocity, to the right, to the left, upward, and downward, that the 
bird, remarkable not only for the rapidity of its flight but the 
quickness of its evolutions, was foiled in all its attempts to seize it. 
Many insects that live but for a short time in the winged state, 
pass almost the whole of this period upon the w T ing. It has 
been calculated that, in its ordinary flight, the house-fly makes 
six hundred strokes with its wings which carry it five feet in 
the second ; but when alarmed its velocity is so increased, that it 
has been calculated to make four thousand strokes and pass over 
thirty-five feet in the same time. 

The rapidity and adroitness of these animals is in no way 
more familiarly illustrated than by observing them in a railroad 
car. When travelling at the rate of thirty or even forty and 
fifty miles an hour, they move about from place to place, back- 
ward, forward, upward, and downward, exactly as if the vehicle 
were at rest. Yet in this case their motions must be most nicely 
adapted with reference to the places on which they alight and the 
direction in which they fly. 

The speed at which some of them run is not less worthy of 
notice. We are told of a fly, so minute as to be scarcely visible, 
which can run six inches a second, making in that time one 



198 MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 

thousand and eighty steps. They climb also in various ways and 
with great skill ; some by claws which lay hold on irregularities 
in the surface of bodies, some by means of soft cushions formed 
of dense hairs which line the under part of their limbs, some 
by suction, and others by means of a tenacious fluid which 
enables them to adhere against the force of gravity. 

Insects also swim and dive. Some of them swim by the help 
of broad, flat hind legs, acting like paddles ; others have a fringe 
of hairs placed in a suitable position to answer the same purpose. 
Some swim or float along upon the back, whilst others skate, or 
run upon the surface of the water. 

They burrow as the mole does, principally by the head and 
fore legs where substances are soft, or by the aid of the jaws 
where they are hard. Many species in this way provide 
themselves with habitations : ants in the earth, many wasps in 
wood, and the house cricket in mortar. They bore also in 
.search of food, and to provide a suitable place for depositing 
their eggs. 

Some of the motions of other classes present a striking con- 
trast in their sluggishness and drowsiness with those observed in 
Insects ; so much so that it is not an uncommon notion, that both 
the fresh and salt water mussels have not the locomotive faculty. 
But this is a vulgar error. It is almost unnecessary to mention 
that the exterior part of mussels consists of two shells hinged 
together, which the animals can open or shut at pleasure, Every 
person must likewise have observed, in the structure of the ani- 
mal itself, a fleshy protuberance of a much redder color, and 
denser consistence, than the other parts of the body. This 
muscular protuberance, which consists of two lobes, has been 
denominated a trunk or tongue ; but it is an instrument by 
which the creature is enabled to perform a progressive though 
a very slow motion ; and, therefore, in describing its manner 
of moving, I shall call these two lobes the animal's tentacula 
or feet. 

' When inclined to remove from its present situation, the river 
mussel opens its shell, thrusts out its tentacula, and, while lying 
on its side in a horizontal position, digs a small furrow in the sand. 
Into this furrow, by the operation of the same tentacula, the ani- 



VOICE OF ANIMALS, ETC. 199 

mal makes the shell fall, and thus brings it into a vertical posi- 
tion. We have now got our mussel on end ; but how is he to 
proceed ? He stretches forward his tentacula, by which he throws 
back the sand, lengthens the furrow, and this fulcrum enables him 
to proceed on his journey/ 



CHAPTER V. (W.) 

VOICE OF ANIMALS AND THEIR MODES OF COMMUNICATION. 

As the existence of sight implies objects to be seen, the exist- 
ence of hearing implies sounds to be heard. Nature is full of 
these. To man all of them are more or less significant, and are 
the objects of his attention ; that of other animals is chiefly en- 
grossed by those that serve to warn them of danger, to direct 
them to their food, or to establish an intercourse w r ith others of 
their own species. 

Voice, in its proper sense, is confined to those animals that 
breathe air through a windpipe by means of lungs. Hence it 
belongs only to the vertebral animals of the first three classes, 
Mammalia, Birds, and Reptiles. The air entering the lungs for 
the purposes of respiration is, in its passage, — chiefly in expira- 
tion, — made to vibrate by an apparatus provided for the purpose, 
which gives origin to sound. This apparatus, called the larynx, 
is, in man and quadrupeds, placed at the top of the windpipe. In 
birds it is situated lower down, where the canal divides to pass to 
the lungs. The structure of these organs is too complicated to be 
made intelligible in all their details without actual inspection of 
the parts themselves. It is sufficient here to say that the princi- 
ple upon which vibration takes place is the same as that upon 
which it depends in some wind-instruments, as the hautboy and 
the clarinet, but modified so as to produce variations far more 
delicate. ' 

The possession of voice does not imply the use of words, but 



200 VOICE OF ANIMALS AND THEIR 

independently of words, it is still capable of conveying a great 
variety of information from one individual to another. By mere 
voice, without articulation, animals express their wants, their 
pleasures, their passions, and their affections ; and this is, in some 
measure, the case even in our own species. But in man the 
power of articulation, or the utterance of words, adds almost 
indefinitely to its capacity. Articulation does not depend upon 
the same organs as voice. It consists in a modification which 
voice receives as it passes through the mouth, throat, and nose. 

Articulation embraces two distinct kinds of sound, the vowel 
and consonant. In the former the sound is continuous, and its 
character is derived from the form assumed by certain parts of 
the mouth and its neighborhood, through which the air passes. 
In consonants, there is a more or less complete interruption of 
the current of air. Every one can determine this difference by 
experiment in his own person. The real distinction between 
vowels and consonants, however, is not so strongly marked as is 
usually represented. Although when a vowel sound is uttered 
it may be in a certain sense indefinitely prolonged, yet the pe- 
culiarity of the sound is confined to its commencement, and has 
in it something of the character of the consonant, of which the 
prolongation is destitute. Thus the prolonged sounds of a, e, and 
i are alike, and those of o and ^but a little if at all different ; whilst 
some consonants, as s and I, are quite as capable of prolongation. 
These points, however, though sufficiently curious and interesting, 
do not come within the plan of this work. 

A few birds can imitate human articulation, as explained in 
another chapter, but, so far as we are able to distinguish, the 
voice of most animals chiefly consists in the production of the 
vowel sounds. Still there is in some quadrupeds an imperfect 
approach to the production of consonants, as of n in the horse, 
m in the cow and cat, b in the dog, and q in the hog. In birds, 
and in some reptiles, there is a nearer approach to the articulation 
of consonants, as in the parrot, the bobolink, the whippoorwill, and 
the frog. Probably there are many modifications of voice among 
animals which we do not recognize, but which convey distinct in- 
formation from one to another of the same species. 

In the chapter on the Artifices of Animals will be found an 



MODES OF COMMUNICATION. 201 

account of the operations and manners of monkeys, which seem 
to imply the possession of a language capable of conveying a 
considerable variety of ideas and expressing a variety of emo- 
tions and passions. That it is totally unintelligible to us, and 
that it appears like an inarticulate chattering, is no certain proof 
that it actually is so ; since the same is true of the rapid talking 
of persons in an unknown tongue, and especially of that of the 
more barbarous and uncultivated savages, like those of Australia 
and Van Diemen's land. Had we the same aid, by means of a 
common nature, of analyzing the sounds uttered by monkeys 
that we have with regard to savages, we might perhaps attain 
to a knowledge of the precise character of the language they em- 
ploy, and find that it has, at least, some approach to an articula- 
tion like that of man. 

Among the invertebral animals, the principal examples of the 
production of sound exist among insects. In them it is not ef- 
fected by the organs of respiration, but by means simply me- 
chanical. There are many sounds produced by them which 
have no purpose corresponding to that of voice as a means of 
communication, but are purely accidental. Such are the hum- 
ming and buzzing produced by their wings, and the noise made by 
large armies of locusts when feeding, which has been compared 
to the crackling of flames driven by the wind. But there are other 
sounds, apparently intended to answer a distinct purpose, although 
we cannot always understand what that purpose is. Such are the 
humming and singing sounds of gnats, flies, mosquitos, bees, 
&c. These are not always, if ever, produced by the mere 
vibration of the wings, but by that of a membranous plate 
situated upon the chest, which seems intended for this purpose 
only. The vibrations are not occasioned by the passage of air, 
but by the muscular contractions of the insect, which, it has been 
calculated, occur three thousand times in the minute. The hum 
of bees varies with the circumstances under which it is made, 
being sometimes angry, sometimes plaintive, and sometimes joy- 
ous. The queen produces peculiar sounds, which are taken note 
of by the rest of the swarm and govern their motions. 

Among the most noisy of insects are the cricket and some of 
the tribe of grasshoppers. One of these, popularly called a locust, 
9* 



202 VOICE OF ANIMALS AND THEIR 

is remarkable for the loudness and shrillness of its note, in which it 
will sometimes persevere for a long time. It is usually heard in 
very warm summer days. In Brazil there is a species which- it 
is said may be heard at a mile's distance. The sound in some 
of them is made by the rubbing of the covers of their wings 
upon each other, and in some by the vibrations of a horny drum 
or membrane. Some of the luminous insects have also this 
power, especially the great lantern-fly of Guiana, which dis- 
turbs the night by sounds resembling that of a razor-grinder. 
Among the white ants, the neuters or soldiers appear to direct 
the workers or laborers by striking some hard substance with 
their mandibles, which elicits a shrill, quick sound, whilst the 
laborers answer with one resembling a hiss. The insect called 
the death watch produces its peculiar sound in the same way. 

Beside communication by sounds, it is evident that there are 
among animals other ways by which information is given and 
received. We often observe this in our domestic species, but it is 
still more remarkable among those in a wild state. It appears 
to be a language of signs, resembling, to a certain extent, that 
which serves for intercourse with the deaf and dumb, or more 
strikingly with those who are deaf and blind. It is wonderful in 
these last cases to notice by what very slight and almost imper- 
ceptible signs ideas are communicated, even those of a complex 
and abstract nature. When we reflect how very simple are the 
wants and ideas of animals, and how limited the range of sub- 
jects on which it is necessary for them to communicate, it is not 
at all incredible that there may exist a very perfect language of 
signs of this description among them, so minute as to be unde- 
tected by us, and yet quite intelligible to them. 

The various tribes of ants furnish remarkable examples of this 
sort of communication. Contact seems to be necessary, as it is 
to the deaf and blind. " If you scatter the ruins of an ant's nest 
in your apartment, you will be furnished with a proof of their 
language. The ants will take a thousand different paths, each 
going by itself to increase the chance of discovery ; they will 
meet and cross each other in all directions, and perhaps will 
wander long before they can find a spot convenient for their 
reunion. No sooner does any one discover a little chink in the 



MODES OF COMMUNICATION. 203 

floor through which it can pass below, than it returns to its com- 
panions, and, by means of certain motions of its antennae, makes 
some of them comprehend what route they are to pursue to find 
it ; sometimes even accompanying them to the spot ; these, in 
their turn, become the guides of others, till all know which way 
to direct their steps." 

According to Huber, this intercourse is partly maintained by 
striking the head against the corselet, and by the contact of the 
mandibles, but chiefly by means of the antennae. These organs 
are, no doubt, possessed of a very delicate sensibility, and are 
not only the seat of the senses of hearing and touch, but may 
have other capacities of perception of a nature unknown to us. 
They appear to be closely connected with the instinct of the 
animal, and to be the medium through which chiefly it receives 
impressions from without. Ants frequently use them on the field 
of battle to intimate approaching danger, and to recognize those 
of their own party when mingled with the enemy. In the 
internal economy of their dwellings, they are employed to give 
notice, to those who have the care of the larvae, of the presence 
of the sun, exposure to which is so necessary to their develop- 
ment ; in their excursions and emigrations, to indicate their 
route ; and in all their various enterprises, to give information 
as to the time of departure, the order of march, &c. Ants lay 
up no store of provisions, but depend upon daily supplies ; those 
laborers, therefore, that remain at home, rely upon parties forag- 
ing abroad for their regular sustenance. Sometimes this is in 
the form of small insects or other substances which are brought 
into the nest. But when the articles of food found are too bulky 
to be directly conveyed there, the ants fill themselves with their 
juices, and, on their return, disgorge them for the benefit of 
those whose labors prevent them from going abroad. The 
hungry animal begins by striking with both its antennae, very 
rapidly, the antennae of the one from whom it waits its supply. 
It then draws closer, with its mouth open, and its tongue ex- 
tended to receive the fluid which may be observed to pass from 
one to the other. During this operation, the recipient does not 
cease to caress its benefactor with its antennae and with its 
fore feet. 



204 VOICE OF ANIMALS AND THEIR 

The nature of the information conveyed on these different oc- 
casions cannot even be imagined. The communication is not 
made by any visible gestures, but simply by the contact of the 
parts. This, indeed, is rendered necessary by the fact that such 
communication is often required in the total darkness of the 
interior of the hill. Hence, too, it happens that an ant can only 
be understood by a single one of its companions at the same 
time, but the information it conveys passes from one to the others 
with extreme rapidity. 

The means by which bees communicate with each other, and 
the instrumentality by which information upon important points 
of their internal arrangements is communicated with inconceiv- 
able rapidity to all parts of the hive, are probably of the same 
general character. 

In one of the lakes in Ceylon, it is the belief of the fishermen 
w T ho frequent its waters, that musical sounds are heard to pro- 
ceed from a certain spot, resembling the faint sweet notes of the 
.ZEolian harp. Sir Emerson Tennent satisfied himself by a 
visit to the place that this was actually the fact. " They came 
up from the water like the gentle thrills of a musical chord, or 
the faint vibrations of a wineglass when its rim is rubbed by a 
wet finger. It was not one sustained note, but a multitude of 
tiny sounds, each clear and distinct in itself; the sweetest treble 
mingling with the lowest bass. On applying the ear to the wood- 
work of the boat, the vibration was greatly increased by conduc- 
tion." The last-mentioned fact seems to imply that the sounds 
were actually produced in the water, and not in the air. Similar 
sounds have been heard at other places, both in the old and new 
continents. They have been attributed, with great appearance 
of probability, to some of the testaceous Mollusca. Their object, 
we are not sufficiently acquainted with the habits of these ani- 
mals even to conjecture. That they are totally useless we have 
no right to assert. 

Where sounds proceed from any animal by an arrangement 
of organs which has their production for its specific object, as in 
some of the cases above mentioned, it is fair to infer that they 
are intended to be heard in order to some definite purpose, and 
consequently to be heard by other animals of the same species. 



MODES OF COMMUNICATION. 205 

So that an organ for the production of sound almost necessarily 
implies in the same animal an organ by which that sound is 
heard, or at least perceived and appreciated. This is not true 
of those cases in which the sound is the mere mechanical result 
of the action of organs in the performance of an ordinary func- 
tion. Thus the buzz of the common house-fly is a necessary 
result of the rapid beating of the air by its wings, and does not 
imply the sense of hearing, though it may coexist with it ; but 
the sounds of the katydid, of the cricket, and those of the bee, 
as emitted for an obvious purpose, do imply the existence of such 
a sense. 

It is not improbable that the power of appreciating sounds, 
either by a distinct organ for this purpose, or else by some 
organ which has also another function, as the antenna? in insects, 
is more widely diffused among the lower animals than we are 
accustomed to imagine. Tke more minutely researches are 
carried among such animals, the more perfect and varied is 
their organization found to be ; and it would not be surprising if 
light and sound were found to be as generally perceived, in some 
degree at least, as taste and odor. 

Some of the prevision which insects evidently possess of 
changes of weather may be due, in part at least, to an ex- 
quisite sense of hearing, that receives impression from the mo- 
tion of agents which usually produce no impression upon us. 
Thus all ordinary changes of weather are preceded and accom- 
panied by changes in the electrical condition of the atmosphere. 
This necessarily produces currents of electricity. Now we can 
ourselves hear these currents when of a certain volume or in- 
tensity, as in thunder and lightning, the discharge of an electric 
battery, and even the milder flow of the aurora, or from a fully 
charged Leyden jar. To a finer sense, the flow and turmoil of 
this subtiler fluid may be as obvious as that of the atmospheric 
air is to us, and thus inform the animals who possess it of changes 
and conditions of which we are insensible. Of the possibility of 
such a difference in the delicacy of hearing we are informed by 
the singular fact that certain very sharp sounds, perfectly audible 
to some persons, are never perceived by others. 



206 SENSATION IN GENERAL. 



CHAPTER VI. (W.) 

OF SENSATION IN GENERAL. FEELING AND TOUCH. — TASTE. 

— SMELL. 

The connection between the animal and the external world is 
maintained by means of the several senses. 

Whatever may be its natural desires and wants, these are 
necessary in order to their gratification. Their number and 
degree of perfection will correspond to the necessities and the 
situation of each individual. The animal which does not vol- 
untarily seek its food needs not sight; the animal which can- 
not fly when pursued needs not to hear. There is the same 
harmony of relation between the senses and the powers called 
into action by them, that has already been pointed out between 
other circumstances in the structure of animals and the condition 
in which they have been placed. None have appetites or wants 
which there is not a provision for their indulging, and indulging 
with a certain degree of safety. There is always a correspond- 
ence, for example, between the appetite that suggests a particular 
kind of food, the senses that perceive it, the limbs which pro- 
cure it, and the organs by which it is digested. 

It makes no difference as'to the number and perfection of the 
senses required, whether the presiding principle with which they 
are connected be intelligence or instinct. It has been argued 
that the wonderful operations brought about by certain animals, 
insects particularly, are not to be attributed chiefly to instinct, 
because, were they owing to a principle so mechanical, they 
would not require organs of sense so delicate as those they pos- 
sess. "If," says a writer on this subject, "insects in all their 
actions were directed mainly by their instinct, they might do as 
well without sight, hearing, smell, and touch." It might as well 
be urged that they could do without limbs, antennae, mouth, and 
other external organs. But in truth the nature of the internal 
principle has nothing to do with that of the organs by which it is 
administered. It makes no difference in the bee, for example, 



SENSATION IN GENERAL. 207 

whether it be induced to build its cell and provide its food by a 
blind instinct or a reasoning intelligence, so far as the organs by 
which it acts are concerned. In either case it requires organs 
of taste to perceive, as well as organs of motion to procure, the 
necessary materials ; organs of touch to take note of the progress 
of its work as it goes on, as well as organs of motion to carry it on. 
The number and degree of perfection of the external senses are 
always strictly in proportion to the wants and desires of the 
internal governing principle, whatever that may be. 

No animal possesses more than the five senses of sight, hear- 
ing, smell, taste, and touch ; many are deficient in some of them, 
but none in all ; and we may be sure that every one possesses 
all that are essential to the condition of existence in which it has 
been created. 

In the lowest of the Radiata it is probable that there exists 
only a vague and indistinct perception of the qualities of external 
objects. Their senses may be resolved into a certain degree of 
feeling, or touch. We can hardly attribute to them either of the 
others distinctly, yet this one sense appears to be so modified as 
to be capable of performing some of the offices of the others. 
Their feelers or tentacula, for example, can determine whether 
the object which they encounter in the water is fit for their food. 
Touch them with a stick or the finger, and they shrink from it. 
Let them be touched by a w r orm, and they immediately grasp it 
and convey it to the mouth. This implies something of the 
attributes of smell and taste. So, too, they are influenced by light, 
and by those vibrations which constitute sound ; and thus in a 
certain limited way they are influenced by the causes which 
excite all the senses. We cannot say that they have smell, taste, 
hearing, or sight, yet the sense of feeling is so modified as to per- 
form, as far as it is needed, the office of them all. 

As we ascend in the scale of being, the senses of smell and 
taste become more distinct from that of feeling, but it is not till 
we arrive at the highest species among the Articulata and Mol- 
lusca that we find them entirely distinct. Here, too, we first per- 
ceive the existence of the superior senses of sight and hearing. 
It is to be remarked that these, which furnish the only very dis- 
tinct information concerning objects with which animals are not 



208 SENSATION IN GENERAL. 

in contact, are usually accompanied by a considerable capacity 
for motion from place to place. It is true that smell, also, may 
give information relating to bodies not in contact ; but this infor- 
mation is not of a very exact nature, and does not relate to 
'objects at any considerable distance, except in those species 
which possess also sight and hearing.. 

In some of the Mollusca, the snail for example, a rude organ 
of sight is detected. Hearing is probably also present, but as 
from the nature of the vibrations on which it depends, an ex- 
ternal organ is not necessary for its exercise, we cannot point out 
its seat. In the cuttle-fish the organs of these two senses become 
more distinct, and they are accordingly capable of free and rapid 
motion from place to place. 

In Insects there are found increased and varied powers of 
motion, accompanying increased powers of sense. But with 
partial exceptions it is only in the vertebral animals that all the 
senses are found exercised by organs of determinate place and 
structure. 

Every part of every animal which is organized is capable, 
under some circumstances, of being influenced by the contact of 
external bodies. This general sense of feeling resides in every 
part, but it is. only when exercised by particular organs, and in a 
peculiar way, that we give it the name of touch. An animal 
may live, and exercise its necessary functions, with this sense 
only. This is not true of any other. No animal can do it by 
means of any other single sense. 

But although every part feels in this general way, the skin, in 
the higher animals at least, is the organ in which the sense 
especially resides. That modification of it which we call touch 
is still more limited in extent, whilst the information it gives is 
far more definite. Feeling acquaints us merely with the pres- 
ence of bodies ; by touch we acquire a knowledge of some of their 
qualities. Touch is the sense of feeling in an active state ; and 
it becomes active chiefly by the form and relation of the organs 
in which it resides. When an external body is touched by a 
single plain surface, like the extended surface of one of the limbs, 
the cheek, or even the palm of the hand, we merely perceive its 
presence, its temperature, perhaps its hardness, and some other 



FEELING AND TOUCH. — TASTE. — SMELL. 209 

very general qualities. But when it comes in contact with two 
or more surfaces, as the lips, the tongue, the fingers, then some 
of its properties, especially its shape, regularity of surface, &c, 
may be perceived. The nicety of touch depends upon the num- 
ber of distinct impressions which we can receive and compare 
together. If we touch a body in its different parts with the tip of 
a single finger many times, we get a less accurate idea of its figure 
and dimensions than when we grasp it but for a single moment 
with the whole hand, because the connection and relation of the 
impressions are of more importance than their number. This 
makes the hand of man the most perfect organ of touch in nature, 
though perhaps, for certain limited purposes, we may find its equal 
in some of those organs of insects by which their wonderful 
operations are carried on. 

Next to the hand of man come those of the monkey tribe and 
the trunk of the elephant. In all of these is perceived the same 
characteristic of structure which gives its excellence to the hand 
of man, but in a less perfect degree. 

In departing from man, we trace a gradual variation in the 
structure of the anterior extremity, till, in the complete quadru- 
peds, it becomes a mere organ of motion. Precisely in proportion 
as it becomes an instrument of motion, it ceases to be an organ 
of sense ; so. that the parts corresponding to those which in man 
are gifted with that delicate sensibility and exquisite discrimination 
characteristic of the human hand, in the ruminants and in the horse 
kind have degenerated into an insensible hoof, fit only to aid the 
animal in its progression. But there is in this case some com- 
pensation. In our own species, when one sense is blunted or 
obliterated, the others become more acute ; and so in animals, in 
proportion as the sense of touch is lost by the diversion of their 
extremities to other purposes, it is either transferred to other 
parts, or the other senses become more acute. Man, whose touch 
is so nice, lacks nicety of smell and taste. The degree in which 
these senses are possessed is indicated by the size and structure 
of their organs. Hence, as they reside in the face, in man the 
face is small compared with the head ; the nose and mouth do 
not project; but as we descend through the apes and the carnivora 
to the more complete quadrupeds, these parts do project, and the 



210 SENSATION IN GENERAL. 

fore limbs deteriorate till we finally find them terminating in 
hoofs. 

The only parts, in complete quadrupeds, which are possessed 
of a nice sense of touch, are the extremity of the nose and lips, 
and the tongue. This is the more necessary to them because the 
lips answer with them the same purpose that the fore limbs of 
other animals do, namely, to seize their food. This relation is 
strikingly illustrated in some animals, where a peculiarity of 
structure is required. Thus the elephant, not being able to take 
food into his mouth by his lips, has their nice sensibility carried 
out to the extremity of the trunk, where, as in the nose of other 
quadrupeds, the senses of smelling and touch are united just 
where their united function is required. 

One of the most singular exercises of sensibility is that which 
has been noticed in the bat, when deprived of its sight, even by 
the entire destruction of its eyes. Spallanzani, observed that 
when some of these animals were confined in rooms opening into 
each other, they continued to pass through the door, while on the 
wing, with the same facility as when possessed of sight. Suspect- 
ing this might be the result of habit, willow rods were placed per- 
pendicularly in different parts of the rooms, and their position was 
from time to time changed ; yet the animals still flew freely 
around, avoiding the ceiling, the walls, the door, and the rods, 
precisely as if they had continued the exercise of sight. It 
seems impossible to attribute this singular phenomenon to any- 
thing but an exquisite sense of feeling, probably existing in the 
extended membrane of the wings. 

In Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, the sense of touch is very con- 
fined, as is obvious from the very structure of their bodies ; whilst 
in Insects it assumes an importance but little if at all inferior to 
that which it has in man himself. 

The sense of taste is in some respects nearly related to that 
of touch. Both require that the object should be brought into 
contact with the organ. But they are intended to inform us of 
qualities of a different kind ; namely, touch, of the physical and 
mechanical ; taste, of what may be called the chemical, qualities 
of bodies. In order to taste, it is necessary there should be a 
solution of the body tasted ; and accordingly where this sense is 



FEELING AND TOUCH. — TASTE. — SMELL. 211 

very delicate, we find organs for breaking down and grinding the 
food, and a fluid, the saliva, which is capable of effecting at 
least a partial solution of it. 

Taste is most perfect in those animals which chew their food 
thoroughly and have a fleshy tongue. It is possessed in a high 
degree by the Mammalia. In Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, it is 
probably less delicate ; and in most of them their food is swal- 
lowed without mastication, though it is sometimes broken to 
pieces by the mouth and teeth. In some Insects there is ground 
for believing that it approaches in delicacy that of man. In the 
lower classes its seat and the degree in which it is exercised can 
be only conjectured. In many it appears to be blended with the 
general sense of feeling, and may be diffused over the whole 
internal surface of the body in such a way that it accompanies 
digestion. The pleasure of taste is something distinct from the 
gratification which attends the taking of food. This last is the 
satisfaction of a want, and is perhaps equally pleasurable in all 
animals, whether taste be exercised or not. 

The sensation of taste resides chiefly in the tongue, yet the 
parts about it essentially contribute to its distinctness and its 
vividness. When we exercise this sense, the substance which 
we wish to taste is pressed by the tongue against the roof of the 
mouth, and the different parts of the mouth are contracted closely 
around the tongue and the sapid body. The more complete and 
perfect the contact which thus takes place, the more perfect is the 
act of tasting. The internal surface of the mouth is very little 
capable of perceiving or distinguishing tastes, unless this press- 
ure takes place. In fact, if the mouth be held open, and a sub- 
stance of even a pretty powerful taste be applied to the tongue, 
the impression it gives is very indistinct and indefinite, and be- 
comes perceptible only by closing the jaws and bringing the 
tongue into contact with the roof of the mouth. Hence arises 
the pleasure we feel in the acts of chewing and swallowing. The 
motion of the jaw, and the action of the teeth and tongue, mix 
the food with saliva, thus putting it into a fit state for producing 
the sensation of taste, and, at the same time, convey it between 
the tongue and the roof of the mouth ; whilst, in swallowing, 
almost the whole internal surface of the mouth contracts upon 



212 SENSATION IN GENERAL. 

and comes in contact with the morsel, raising the pleasure to the 
highest degree. 

The sense of smell is excited by what are denominated odors. 
These are emanations thrown off from the surface of bodies, and 
by means of them this sense is exercised with regard to sub- 
stances which are at a distance. The nature of odor is not per- 
fectly understood. Probably all substances possess it in some 
degree, for when not perceptible in their ordinary condition, it 
may be developed, by pounding, friction, moisture, solution, and 
vaporization ; and when not distinguishable by man, it may be by 
some other animal. It has been supposed to depend upon the 
projection of indefinitely small particles from the odorous body 
in all directions. Some substances, after giving out odor for a 
length of time, lose weight, and ultimately become inodorous. 
Some other substances, on the contrary, of which musk is a re- 
markable example, give out odor for many years, and even 
impart to other bodies the same power, and yet lose no weight, 
nor in any perceptible degree their odorous property. In this 
latter case it is difficult to adopt the usual explanation, or to con- 
ceive of so very minute a subdivision of matter as it implies ; 
whilst in the former it is easy to perceive that the loss of weight 
may be owing to changes in the condition of the body quite in- 
dependent of the emanation of odorous particles, — such for 
example, as the dissolving in the atmosphere of essential oils. A 
satisfactory explanation of the nature of odor is, then, yet want- 
ing. 

Some substances act upon the organ by immediate contact: 
such are gases, vapors, and solid bodies in a state of fine powder. 
But strictly speaking this is not the pure exercise of the sense of 
smell. In such cases there is an actual irritation of the organ, in 
addition to the impression of odor. Thus the smell of sulphur is 
perceived when its fumes are drawn into the nostrils, but beside 
this impression, a smarting and acrid sensation is produced, quite 
distinct in its character. So in the use of snuff, beside the smell 
of tobacco, there is an irritation of the organ which produces 
sneezing and a discharge of fluid ; neither of which takes place 
from the simple exercise of smell. 

This sense is in such constant exercise, that we are hardly 



FEELING AND TOUCH. — TASTE. — SMELL. 213 

aware how singular and curious are many of the phenomena con- 
nected with it. That a slight flower should be able in a few 
moments to fill a large room with its fragrance, and yet lose none 
of its weight; that an essential oil should communicate to the 
vessel which contains it a power of producing odor that can only 
be destroyed with the vessel itself ; that a grain of musk should 
communicate to large volumes of air, and to any other substances 
with which it is in contact, qualities which no chemistry can 
detect, and which are yet at once appreciated by the organ of 
smell, — are facts as wonderful as they are inexplicable. It 
almost seems in these cases as if odor were sent out, as light 
is from luminous, and vibrations from sounding bodies, without 
any loss of substance on the part of the body emitting it. 

The smell and taste are the natural guardians of the appetite, 
and by means of them animals are for the most part directed in 
their choice of food. In his uncivilized state, man is also capable 
of deriving from them some aid ; but in the ordinary condition of 
human society, these senses, accustomed to a great variety of 
unnatural applications, are seldom consulted for this purpose, and 
many things which are agreeable to them are injurious as food. 

In animals which breathe air, the smell resides in cavities 
through which the air passes in going to the lungs. These 
cavities are placed in, around, and above the nose. They are 
lined with a very sensible and delicate membrane always kjept 
moistened by a peculiar fluid, and the odorous principle, what- 
ever it is, produces its impression by coming in contact with it. 
Within these cavities are bony bodies of a spongy texture, over 
which, and into the interstices of which, the same membrane is 
extended, in order to increase the surface upon which the im- 
pression is made, and thus increase the delicacy of the sense. 
Accordingly the degree in which animals possess it will corre- 
spond to the size and fulness of the nose and upper jaw r . In 
animals ; which do not breathe air but water, the apparatus is 
different; the odors, being conveyed by water, are simply re- 
ceived into a cavity lined by a peculiar membrane, and here the 
sense must differ very little from that of a refined taste. 



214 HEARING. 

CHAPTER VII. (W.) 

HEARING. 

Sound is produced by vibrations in the air, or in any- 
body capable of communicating them to an organ of hearing. 
There is nothing peculiar in these vibrations. They can even 
be seen and felt, as in the strings of a piano-forte. Hence 
even in animals which have no proper organ of hearing, sounds 
may be imperfectly perceived by the common sense of feel- 
ing- 

If these vibrations are less than thirty-two in a second, although 
they may be seen and felt, they do not produce the impression 
of sound on the human ear, although they perhaps may on that 
of some animals. All vibrations exceeding thirty-two in a second 
are productive of sound, and its pitch becomes higher or sharper 
in proportion to their number. We commonly speak and judge 
of sound as transmitted through air, because it comes chiefly to 
us in this way ; but probably all substances are capable of propa- 
gating it in various degrees of perfection and velocity. Its amount 
or volume is greater when conveyed through iron, stone, glass, 
wo.od, and water, than when through air ; but its delicate qualities 
and variations are better conveyed through the latter. 

Sound travels through air at the average rate of 1130 feet in a 
second, or a mile in about four and a half seconds. But this is 
liable to variations. In summer, by some accurate observations, 
the velocity was found to increase to 1164 feet, and in winter to 
diminish to 1099 feet. Upon some sultry plains within the tropics 
the rate was found to be 1175 feet, and upon the mountains of 
Quito 1120 feet. Hence it is to be inferred that heat increases 
and cold diminishes the speed at which sound travels ; but these 
variations have been found to depend in part, also, upon the 
pressure and moisture of the atmosphere. Other circumstances, 
such as the force and rapidity of the wind, are also causes of 
variation. It thus appears that the velocity of sound is seldom 
exactly the same at different times, or in different directions. 



HE AKIN G. 215 

For all practical purposes, the average of 1130 feet may be re- 
garded as sufficiently near the truth. 

Great variations in its velocity have been observed when it is 
transmitted through other bodies, and it is found to bear a cer- 
tain relation to their elasticity and density. Carbonic acid gas 
gives the lowest known rate, — 902 feet to the second ; crown 
glass the highest, — 17,700 or about fifteen times that of the at- 
mosphere. Cast-iron and common glass have a rate nearly the 
same ; the metals, wood, and tobacco pipes, from a quarter to a 
half less ; liquids, as water, alcohol, and mercury, about two 
thirds less, or nearly 5000 feet ; whilst the gases, with the ex- 
ception of carbonic acid gas, give the same result as common air. 
Most of these results are given from calculation ; but to a con- 
siderable extent they have been confirmed by experiment. In 
respect to cast-iron they were tested by an eminent French 
philosopher in the following manner. A series of cast-iron pipes 
was taken of half a mile in length, and a bell sounded in the air 
by its tongue, whilst at the same instant it was made to come in 
contact with the iron. By a person placed at the other extremity 
two sounds we're perceived, one at the expiration of a quarter of 
a second, the other of two seconds and three quarters. This 
gives in cast-iron a velocity about eleven times that in air. 

A minute sound will be transmitted to a much greater distance 
through a solid substance than through the air. A slight tap or 
scratch at one end of a piece of timber may be heard by the ear 
applied in contact at the other end, at a distance of thirty or forty 
feet, while in the air it is inaudible at two or three feet. This is 
mainly, however, owing to the fact that sound produced in the air 
is propagated in all directions, and its force is thus exhausted 
by its diffusion ; whilst in the solid body it is wholly confined 
within its limits. If, however, sound be transmitted through a 
small and confined column of air, as in a common speaking-tube, 
this diffusion is avoided, and it may be conveyed to as great a 
distance, as through solid bodies and with more accuracy. 

It is a fact important to the explanation of the sense of hearing, 
that sound is most readily propagated through that medium in 
which it has originated, and that it passes with more or less dif- 
ficulty into another. Thus if two stones are struck together 



216 HEARING. 

under water, their sound is heard at but a very short distance 
by a person in the air ; but if his head be also placed under 
water, it becomes audible at a much greater distance. On the 
other hand, if the ear be in the water and the sound produced 
in the air, it is scarcely heard at all, or at but a very short dis- 
tance. This is owing to the difficulty with which the vibrations 
pass from air into water and from water into air. 

The perception of sound informs us that some change is 
taking place in the objects around us. The most simple office of 
the sense of hearing, then, is to arouse the attention ; it is a 
warning to the exercise of the other senses, particularly that of 
sight. Hence the ear is always open to impressions, and is not 
capable of being closed against sound, as the eye is against light. 
Sound is an occasional quality of bodies ; shape and color are 
constant ones. The sight and hearing, then, are closely related, 
and are, in fact, complementary to each other, the one giving that 
sort of information which cannot be derived from the other. 
The ear informs an animal that an enemy or his prey is some- 
where about him ; the eye ranges around to detect his place and 
his intentions. The ear informs, warns, and suggests. The eye. 
notices, acts upon, and follows out the information it has thus re- 
ceived. Either is imperfect without the other. 

There is much difference among animals in the degree and 
kind of information they are capable of deriving from sounds. 
This depends partly upon the structure of the organ, but chiefly 
upon their powers of observation and intelligence. Thus the 
superiority of man, in regard to the exercise of this sense, is 
wholly due to his intellectual preeminence. The ear in nearly 
all the Mammalia is as perfect as in him. They can distinguish 
all the varieties of mere sound that he can, but they cannot, to the 
same extent with him, understand, articulate, or appreciate musi- 
cal sounds. This difference is wholly due to that cultivation of 
the sense, for which his superior mental constitution qualifies him. 

In fact, by education we can perhaps teach animals to receive 
by language all the ideas they are capable of entertaining in 
common with us. The obstacle to their comprehension of lan- 
guage is, not that they cannot appreciate the sounds in which it 
consists, but that they cannot comprehend the ideas that it con- 



HEARING. 217 

• 

veys. "We find, indeed, that they are capable of receiving and 
conveying information between themselves by variations of sound 
which are, to us, very slight and indistinct. 

But there are many circumstances in the condition and resi- 
dence of particular animals, which require modifications of the 
organ of hearing. The structure which is best adapted for 
hearing through air, is not best adapted for hearing through 
water. Fishes and lobsters, for example, have an organ which 
differs from that of quadrupeds and birds ; whilst reptiles and 
the cetaceous animals require still a different modification, since 
they must sometimes perceive sound through air, and sometimes 
through water. 

The qualities of sound which man is capable of distinguishing 
are five. 1. Its force, volume, or loudness. 2. Its pitch or tone 
with reference to the musical scale ; as whether it be high or low, 
sharp or flat. 3. A quality designated by the French word 
timbre, for which there is no exactly equivalent English term. 
It embraces those differences of sound, which distinguish one 
musical instrument from another, as a flute from a clarinet or 
a violin, and which distinguish the voice of one person from 
another. 4. The vocal sounds, or vowels. 5. The proper articu- 
late sounds, or consonants. The same qualities are, to a certain 
extent, distinguished by many animals, but in various degrees, 
and by none so perfectly as by man. 

The organ of hearing in man is perhaps the most intricate 
and difficult to understand in the whole body. In many ani- 
mals it is more simple ; in none is it more complicated. The 
only part which is present in all those where an ear has been de- 
tected at all is a small sac, filled with a watery fluid, in the 
membranous walls of which the extreme and delicate fibrils of 
the nerve of hearing are distributed. This sac is generally con- 
tained in the substance of the bones of the head. The vibra- 
tions of sound produce a jar in the fluid, and this, being com- 
municated to the nerve, is transmitted to the brain, and there 
produces the impression of sound. This is the essential part ; 
but in nearly all animals there are additional ones, corresponding 
to the circumstances under which sound is heard, and the kind 
of sounds to which they are exposed. That this is so, appears 
10 



218 



HEARING. 



from the fact that in man all the subordinate parts of the ap- 
paratus may be destroyed, and some degree of the sense be still 
retained, whilst if the structure of this be impaired, it is en- 
tirely lost, though all the others remain unimpaired. 

In all the invertebral animals in whom an ear has been detected, 
this simple cavity constitutes the whole of it, and in some of the 
lower fishes little is detected beside it. But in man and the 
higher animals, it is found very complicated in its structure, and 
there are a number of subsidiary parts which are necessary to 
the perfection of the sense. 

First, there is the external ear, intended to collect the vibrations 

Fig. 45. 







The diagram represents the external ear, the passage leading to the drum or tympa- 
num, and the cavities of the internal ear, which is the seat of the sense. The hone in 
which these cavities are contained is supposed to be sawn open so as to expose them in 
their full extent. The internal parts are larger than in nature. 

a, 6, c, external ear; tf, entrance to f the auditory canal; e, e, portions of hone in 
which the cavities are contained ; g-, membrane of the drum or tympanum ; h, its cavity, 
from which the small bones have been removed ; i, openings from the drum into /, 
cells in the bone to increase the reverberations of sound ; &, eustachian tube leading 
down to the mouth and admitting air into the drum; I, m, n, the labyrinth, a com- 
plex cavity in the bone, containing the nervous extremities, which are the seat of the 
sense; into this there are two openings from the drum indicated by small black spots; o, 
nerve of hearing ; p, canal where a large artery enters going to the brain ; q, cavity which 
receives the head of the lower jawbone ; r, s, projections of bone. 



HEARING. 219 

and thus increase their intensity. This, as common observation 
teaches us, varies very much in different animals. It is adapted 
rather to increase the volume of sound than to contribute to 
the discrimination' of its delicate differences. From the ex- 
ternal ear, a canal leads into a cavity hollowed out in a very 
solid part of the bones of the head, and called the tympanum or 
drum, over the entrance to which a membrane is stretched, 
closing it completely, like the parchment over the head of a 
drum. This cavity is filled only with air, and communicates by 
a canal — the eustachian tube — with the back part of the throat 
or nostrils, which admits its free ingress and egress. 

On the inner wall of this cavity are two openings, leading into 
one still more interior, called the labyrinth. This is the essential 
part of the organ formerly referred to. These are also closed 
by membranes, whilst the cavity within is filled with the fluid by 
means of which the vibrations are communicated to the nervous 
extremities. Across the tympanum is a series of small bones, 
attached on the one side to the membrane of the tympanum, and 



b c b 

In this diagram, we are supposed to be looking outward from the internal parts of the 
ear into the cavity of the tympanum containing the bones in their natural position. 
The dark, ovoid space is the membrane, to which the arm of one of the bones is attached. 
These bones are called malleus, the hammer; incus, the anvil; os orbiculare, a small 
globular bone ; and stapes, the stirrup, the oval surface of which is applied to one of 
the openings which lead into the labyrinth. 

b, b, membrane of tympanum; c, a long arm of the malleus, attached to this mem- 
brane; d, the head of the malleus, connected with the incus; e, the other long arm of 
the malleus; /, a muscle acting upon it; g, the incus, of which one arm is attached to 
the wall of the tympanum, whilst the other is connected by moans of the orbicular 
bone /*, to the stapes i, and A; is a muscle attached to it, regulating its movements. 



220 HEARING. 

on the other to one of the openings into the labyrinth, and through 
thern vibrations received by the head of the drum are transmitted 
to the nerve in the labyrinth. 

The object of this arrangement is to transmit vibrations origi- 
nating in air to the fluid in the labyrinth, and thus to the nerve. 
The membrane and the connected bones perform an office with 
regard to sounds, analogous to that which the humors of the eye 
do with regard to light. They bring the vibrations, as it were, 
to a focus, and make them effective upon the nerve of the ear. 

The membrane of the drum answers still a further purpose, 
analogous to that of the iris in the eye. It is capable of being 
made tight or lax, according to the intensity of the sound we 
wish or expect to hear. When we listen very attentively for a 
minute one, we are sensible of an involuntary change in the con- 
dition of the ear, and so too when we anticipate a very loud 
one ; and if a very loud one burst unexpectedly upon us, the 
ear is often temporarily, and sometimes permanently injured by 
it, just as happens to the eye from its sudden exposure to a very 
strong light. 

These parts are varied much in different classes of animals ; 
and, although the precise purpose of each variation is not obvi- 
ous, w r e cannot doubt that it is intended to adapt the animal to 
something in its situation and mode of life. 

The distinctness of sounds, and the distance at which they are 
heard, depend partly on their loudness, and partly on their note 
or tone. Of two equally loud, the sharpest is heard farthest and 
most distinctly ; and of those on the same key, some are heard 
farther and more distinctly than others, as a fife farther than a 
guitar or a piano. Some very sharp sounds are inaudible by cer- 
tain persons, though perfectly heard by others. Dr. Wollaston 
found, on examining the ears of a number of persons by means 
of a series of pipes giving the more acute notes, that different 
individuals ceased to hear at different points of the scale, and 
were insensible to all sounds above it. Thus some persons can 
hear certain natural sounds which others cannot, and it is not im- 
possible that there may be a great variety so high in key that 
they make no impression on the human ear and yet may be per- 
ceptible to the animals that produce them. We may thus be 



HEARING. 221 

surrounded by a world of sound of which we are unconscious, 
in the same way that we live in the midst of myriads of animals 
too minute to be seen. Acuteness, as well as feebleness of sound, 
produces the same effects as to hearing, that minuteness of object 
does as to sight. 

In judging of the direction in which a sound comes, we are 
aided by a variety of circumstances that experience teaches us 
to take into consideration. The mere sound alone, does not give 
us this information. Infants do not seem to possess the power 
at all. Sounds, as they come to our ears, are modified by re- 
flection, by the interposition of obstructions, and by the position 
in which the ear is with regard to the body from which they 
proceed. We generally know from what objects such and such 
sounds are likely to come, and in what direction these objects are. 
If we hear these sounds, they appear to come in the direction 
upon which the attention is fixed. 

The power possessed by a ventriloquist of deceiving us with 
regard to the distance and direction of sounds, illustrates very 
well the principles which guide us in our judgment. If he turn 
his face upward and appear to address a person above him, and 
then imitate a distant sound, the answer will appear to come 
from above ; if he look downward, and yet use precisely the 
same sound in making the answer, it will appear to come from 
beneath. He imitates the stifled cry of a dog, and by directing 
the attention to a closed box it appears to proceed from it. He 
raises the lid, at the same time changing his voice, and we seem 
to hear the open cry without obstruction. 

Many animals are capable of a much more correct judgment 
concerning the direction of sounds than man, owing to the size, 
structure, and movableness of the external ear. This is particu- 
larly noticeable in the timid, as the hare, the horse, the deer, 
&c, and in the nocturnal, as the bat. The external ear in them 
is long and large, and capable of being moved in different direc- 
tions. The horse, for example, is, when alarmed, observed to 
turn his long, conical ear in various directions, and by noting the 
direction in which a sound is perceived the loudest, he is able in- 
stinctively to judge that it comes from that quarter. 

In determining distance, we are influenced by the same sort of 



222 HEARING. 

considerations. When we know the nature of a sound, by what it 
is produced, and what is its degree of intensity at its origin, we 
can estimate with some accuracy its probable distance. We can 
determine when it approaches and when it recedes, by the varia- 
tion in its loudness. But we are liable to great mistakes in this 
respect, for there are other circumstances which produce the 
same effect as distance. Where many obstacles intervene to 
interfere with and divert the direct passage of vibrations, or 
where they pass over bad conductors, they are rendered fainter, 
and appear at a greater distance. Where, on the contrary, there 
are no such impediments, and sound travels over or through a good 
conductor, it is louder and appears nearer than it is. The equal 
density of the air in the unbroken winter of the arctic regions 
enables it to convey sounds with great facility and distinctness. 
Generally, over water, they are heard at a vastly greater distance 
than over land. The firing of the cannon in the memorable en- 
gagement between the English and Dutch fleets in the year 1672, 
is stated to have been heard at a distance of two hundred miles. 

The perfection of the judgment with regard to sounds may be 
much increased, and persons who have been a long time blind 
learn to elicit from them information for which we ordinarily 
depend upon sight. " The late blind Justice Fielding," says Dr. 
Darwin, " walked for the first time into my room, and after 
speaking a few words, said, i This room is about twenty-two feet 
long, eighteen wide, and twelve high/ all which he guessed by 
the ear with great accuracy." 

Instances of this kind show that there are modifications of 
sound really capable of communicating information concerning 
surrounding objects to which we do not attend, because we 
possess by the sense of sight a more certain method of obtaining 
it. It is quite probable that every object to which the vibrations 
of sound extend modifies in some measure those which proceed 
from it afterward by reflection, and thus modifies the whole mass 
of sound which reaches the ear ; for it is to be observed that we 
rarely hear a sound simply as it proceeds from the body pro- 
ducing it. Even when it first reaches the ear, it is usually com- 
bined with some of its own reflections, as will appear from the 
following statement. 



HEARING. 223 

The ear cannot appreciate an interval of sound of less than one 
twelfth of a second. Sounds, therefore, occurring at a less inter- 
val, appear to be one ; they are contemporaneous or at least con- 
tinuous. The consequence is that all reflections or echoes from 
objects so near that they arrive at the ear in less than one twelfth 
of a second, ate confounded with, or make a part of, the original 
sound. Now as sound travels through about ninety-four feet in 
one twelfth of a second, it will be reflected from an object at half 
that distance at the same interval. Strictly, then, beyond forty- 
seven feet, the reflection of a sound is distinct from the original ; 
but this is upon the supposition that the sound occupies no time, 
whilst in fact the shortest does occupy more than one twelfth of 
a second. A syllable, it is computed, occupies, usually, full one 
fourth of a second ; and an object, therefore, to return the echo 
of a single syllable, must be at least one hundred and sixty-one 
feet distant. 

Hence it may happen, in some peculiar state of atmosphere, 
where reflections are returned with great distinctness, that a 
second sound precisely like the original will be heard at the same 
time with it, but coming to the ear in a different direction. 
When this is not the case, the reflected vibrations from all objects 
within a certain distance will mingle in with the direct ones, and 
form a part of the original impression upon the organ of hearing. 
We seldom hear, then, a simple elementary sound, because we 
are seldom where there are >not objects around to modify by re- 
flecting it. A common illustration of this occurs in the difference 
in the character and volume of the sound of a pistol discharged 
in a common apartment, or upon an extended plain, or upon a 
sheet of water. 

Probably all objects in reflecting sound produce some change 
in the quality of the vibrations which is characteristic of their 
own qualities. A surface of stone, of metal, of wood, of woollen, 
each modifies it in a way peculiar to itself. It is commonly 
remarked, for example, how much the sound of music is influ- 
enced by the furniture, carpet, and kind of walls, of the room 
in which it is heard. So that there is probably some quality 
in every sound, indicative of the nature, form, size, and mate- 
rial of every object which by reflection has contributed to it, 



224 HEARING. 

as well as of that from which it originally proceeded. A more 
perfect education of the sense of hearing, therefore, or a more 
delicate instrument, might enable us to detect by sound many 
of those qualities of objects which we now know only by touching 
and seeing. Sight originally informs us of the color and shape 
only of bodies, but by experience and education we learn to de- 
rive from it a knowledge of many of their other qualities. A 
similar education of the ear in the blind has often given to them 
a similar power of judging by the sense of hearing. There is an 
account, in the Transactions of the Manchester Society, of a blind 
man who spent his youth as a wagoner, and occasionally as a 
guide through intricate roads in the night and during snow. He 
was occupied in the latter part of his life as a projector and 
surveyor of highways in difficult and mountainous regions. In 
all these occupations he was aided merely by the senses of touch 
and hearing. It is related also of Dr. Moyes, a blind man, that 
he could judge by the sounds in a room, of its dimensions, and 
of the stature of those with whom he conversed. Dr. Saunder- 
son, a distinguished mathematician of the last century, was blind, 
and we are told authentically of a blind sculptor who produced 
an accurate likeness of Charles I. by the touch alone. In our 
own community we are familiar with the almost incredible nicety 
to which the education, not only of the blind, but also of the blind 
and deaf, is capable of being carried. 

Some interesting inferences may be drawn from these facts, 
with regard to the construction of rooms for music and public 
speaking. An apartment in which no part of the surface is more 
than forty-seven feet from the source of sound is the most per- 
fectly adapted for these purposes. In this case, the reflected 
sounds will all be practically consonant with the original, and will 
therefore increase its force on the ear of the hearer. When the 
apartment is larger, the reflections will interfere more or less 
with the original sound, and it is necessary for the speaker to 
articulate more slowly, or rather to leave a longer interval be- 
tween his words, that the echo of one may subside before another 
is uttered. The great object is to prevent or neutralize all those 
reverberations which interfere with the voice, and to take advan- 
tage of all those that concur with and support it. A speaker 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 



225 



who stands directly under a dome that reflects, and at the same 
time concentrates, the sound, as a concave mirror does light, may 
find himself annoyed by a very distinct echo from above, which 
repeats his words, or, if not more than forty-seven feet distant, 
utters them apparently at the same moment with himself. 



CHAPTER VIII. (W.) 



OF SIGHT. EDUCATION OF THE SENSES AND THEIR COMBI- 
NATION AND RECIPROCAL RELATIONS. 



In order to understand the structure of the eye, some knowl- 
edge is necessary of the general laws of the refraction of light. 
When its rays pass through a convex lens, they are collected 
together and form what is denominated a focus. This is an 
inverted image of the object from which they proceed. If a lens 
be fitted to a hole in the window-shutter of a darkened room, and 

Fig. 47. 




In this diagram the eye is supposed to be divided from before backward, so that we 
look upon the cut edges of the envelopiug membranes, and the cut surface of the lens is 
seen edgeways. 

1, Sclerotic or outer coat ; 2, the cornea ; 3, the choroid or middle coat ; 4, 5, 6, the 
iris and appendages ; 7, the pupil ; 8, third coat or retina ; 9, a canal surrounding the 
lens; 10, chamber of the eye, anterior to the lens, and filled with the aqueous humor ; 
11, posterior chamber ; 12, lens ; 13, vitreous humor filling the posterior chamber ; 
14, sheath conveying the artery to the lens ; 15, optic nerve ; 16, artery of the retina. 

10* 



226 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

a white screen placed at its focal distance, a distinct but inverted 
picture of the objects without is projected upon it. This is a 
camera-obscura. The globe of the eye is such a darkened cham- 
ber, and a similar picture of everything toward which the eye is 
directed is painted upon a delicate membrane at its back part, 
called the retina. This impression, conveyed by the optic nerve 
to the T^rain, gives to the mind the sensation of seeing. 

These are the essential parts of an eye, but in those of dif- 
ferent animals a great variety of additions and modifications are 
observed, rendered necessary by the conditions under which the 
sense is exercised. We shall understand these modifications best 
by examining the organ as it exhibits itself in its most perfect 
state in man. 

The eye consists of several external coverings^ containing 
within them certain transparent substances called the humors, 
which correspond to the lens of the camera-obscura. 

The external covering or coat, called the sclerotic, is a strong, 
thick membrane, which gives its chief strength to the globe. 

The second or middle is thinner and more vascular, called the 
choroid. 

The third or internal is still more delicate and transparent. 
It is the retina, the screen which receives the inverted images of 
the objects at which we look. 

These coats, as will be observed by referring to the diagram, 
have an opening at their anterior surface of about half the di- 
ameter of the globe. Over this opening is placed, like a watch 
crystal, the cornea, a transparent covering a little more convex 
than the rest of the eye, for the admission of light. 

Fig. 48. 




a, aqueous humor; &, crystalline humor or lens; c, vitreous humor; d, external 
object ; e, its inverted image. 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 227 

Just behind this transparent plate is placed the principal re- 
fracting lens, called the crystalline lens or humor. The space 
in front of this is filled with the aqueous humor, a very thin 
liquid. The space behind it, constituting the greater part of the 
cavity, contains the vitreous humor, a jelly-like and more con- 
sistent fluid. All these probably contribute more or less to the 
perfection of the image upon the retina. 

Between the cornea and the crystalline lens is placed the iris, 
the colored circle which surrounds the pupil of the eye. It is as 
delicate as a cobweb in its texture, and floats in the aqueous 
humor. It is placed here to regulate the quantity of light which 
gains admission. This varies to so great a degree that the light 
of the noonday sun is stated to be 90,000 times that of twilight. 
By the contraction or relaxation of its fibres, the opening of the 
iris, or the pupil, contracts with the increase of light, and dilates 
with its diminution. 

The inside of the iris and of the choroid coat of the eye is 
covered by a black substance like a coat of paint. The trans- 
parent retina lies upon this coat. This serves to darken the 
chamber of the eye, and thus renders the picture on the retina 
more intense, just as the images on the screen of the camera- 
obscura are more distinct the darker the walls of the camera 
itself are. 

The glooe, thus constructed, is placed in a conoidal, bony cavity, 
called its orbit. This is considerably larger than the globe, in 
order to give it great freedom of motion, and furnish room for 
the muscles by which it is moved. These are six in number, and 
render it capable of being turned in every possible direction. 
The rest of the cavity is occupied by a quantity of soft mem- 
brane filled with fat, upon which the globe rests. 

The eye, being a very delicate organ, is most carefully pro- 
tected, so that, although placed in what seems a very exposed 
situation, it yet escapes injury in the most remarkable manner. 
The edges of the orbit project everywhere to at least a level 
with, and sometimes beyond, its anterior surface, so that it is se- 
cured from the most direct blows, except those inflicted by some 
small body, as the end of a stick. Even from these it generally 
escapes by sliding on one side, so that their force expends itself 



228 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

upon the soft parts around. The surface of the eyeball is kept 
soft and moist by the tears, which* are prepared by a small gland 
situated in the upper part of the orbit. They are diffused by the 
eyelids in the operation of winking ; and in winking not only 
are the lids brought down over the ball, but the latter is also 
rolled upward in the socket so as more completely to cleanse its 
whole surface. All dust or other impurities which are deposited 
from the air are washed off in this way. When the tears have 
answered this purpose, they run along the lower eyelid, which 
has a bevelled edge that forms a little gutter or canal to contain 
them, toward the nose. There through a small hole they descend 
into the nostrils. When formed very rapidly, as when the eye is 
irritated, or in weeping, the canal becomes too full, and they fall 
over upon the cheek. 

The projecting eyebrows shade the eye from the direct rays of 
the sun, and they also arrest the sweat which might otherwise 
run down from the forehead, loaded with dust. The eyelashes 
contribute to the same purpose. 

We may, in the next place, attend to some of the phenomena 
of sensation. When we look directly at an object, we always 
turn the same point of the surface of the eye toward it, and its 
image falls always upon the same spot of the retina. A line 
drawn between these two points is called the axis of vision, or 
the optic axes. Strictly speaking, we can look distinctly at but a 
single object at once, and we gain our knowledge of others by 
directing the optic axes successively to them. But though we can 
look but at a single object directly, we can perceive the presence 
of all others which fall upon the retina, and even attend to them, 
so as to note their color, their shape, their distance, their motions, 
and also the relation they bear to the object at which we are 
looking. 

The spot of the retina which is the seat of direct vision, though 
thus used for the most distinct examination of objects, is yet less 
sensible to impressions of faint light than the portions around it. 
Thus a faint star in the heavens will sometimes disappear when 
looked at directly, but reappear as soon as the eye is diverted 
from it, if the attention continues fixed upon the spot. Late in 
the afternoon, Venus is occasionally seen in this indirect way, 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 22^ 

when it is found difficult to see it directly. The same is true 
of the faint tails of comets, the nebulas, and the milky-way. 

The sensation produced by an object does not cease when its 
light ceases to fall on the retina. The impression continues for 
about one seventh of a second, so that we see an object for this 
length of time after it has vanished. If a body be in rapid mo- 
tion, we see it not merely where it is, but also in every part of 
that space through which it has moved in one seventh of a sec- 
ond. If a coal of fire be whirled round in a circle so as to make 
seven revolutions in a second, it will appear like a circle of fire. 
When a wheel is in rapid motion, we cease to see the individual 
spokes. A flash of lightning is actually a luminous spark or ball 
moving with immense rapidity ; but as it passes over many miles 
in much less than one seventh of a second, it appears to us like a 
continuous stream of fire. The same circumstance serves also to 
explain, in some measure, the greater apparent than real number 
of the fixed stars. It serves also to explain why a body cannot 
ever be represented in painting as actually in motion. An ani- 
mal may be depicted with its legs or w T ings in that position which 
they take in running or flying, but it always appears at rest, be- 
cause no art can imitate the appearance produced by the change 
of place it undergoes in one seventh of a second. Could a pho- 
tographic image be taken in exactly this period of time, the 
appearance of motion would probably be exhibited. On the 
other hand, when a body in motion is seen by a light which 
does not continue the same period, it does not appear to move. 
Thus, when a horse and carriage going at a rapid pace is seen 
by a flash of lightning, it seems to be standing still, and the spokes 
of the wheel are all distinctly visible, although when seen by ordi- 
nary light they are blended into a confused mass. 

The point of the retina at which the optic nerve communicates 
with it, is almost wholly insensible to light, so that an object 
whose image falls upon it will be invisible. This curious fact is 
easily illustrated. Let two circles of w T hite paper, four inches in 
diameter, be affixed to the side of a room at the height of the 
eye and at eighteen inches from each other. Let the observer 
then stand directly opposite the left-hand paper and close the 
right eye. Then let him keep the left eye directed to the right- 



230 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

hand paper, but at the same time continue to take note of the 
other. Let him next draw slowly backward. At about four 
times the distance of the papers from each other, that on the left 
will disappear; but upon retiring still further, it will be again 
seen. The image at the moment of its disappearance has fallen 
upon the insensible spot of the retina. 

By a little variation in this experiment, the two circles may 
both be made to disappear at once. Stand directly between 
them, and with the right eye closed direct the left eye to the 
right circle, and retire backward till it disappears. Then close 
the left eye and direct the right eye to the left circle, and this 
will not be seen. In this position the two objects disappear in 
succession when looked at with the diagonal eyes. Now place 
some object at such a distance in front of the nose, the forefinger 
for instance, that it will hide the left-hand object from the right 
eye and the right-hand object from the left eye. Look with both 
eyes at this object, and neither of the circles can be seen. 

The iris is closely connected with the condition of the retina, 
its office being, as already stated, to regulate the quantity of light 
which falls upon it ; so that its opening contracts when the light 
is strong, and dilates when it is feeble. Other circumstances, 
however, have also an influence upon it. Other things being 
equal, it dilates when we look at remote objects, and contracts 
when we look at those which are near. We see an object in 
a fuller light with a dilated pupil, but with greater distinctness 
of outline with a contracted one. The more completely we can 
exclude all rays except those which come from the object looked 
at, the better we see it. Thus in a bright day the retina is im- 
pressed by all objects whose light falls upon it ; the pupil is con- 
sequently contracted. But if the eye be shaded, so that all rays 
are excluded except those which come directly from the object 
we wish to see, the pupil dilates, and we see it with greater clear- 
ness. Hence we shade the eye in a bright light, and we see best 
from a dark place, or through a long tube, especially if the inside 
be blackened. From the bottom of a deep well, the stars may be 
seen by day. In the absence of the sun we see objects which 
are invisible when it is present, as the moon and the stars, 
although they give no more light by night than by day. 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 231 

This, however, does not wholly depend upon the state of the 
iris. By exposure to strong light the retina becomes insensible 
to feeble, so that when we go from the full glare of day into a 
darkened room we are for a time almost blinded from the con- 
trast, and it is only gradually that the retina recovers its sensi- 
bility. All our sensations are in some measure comparative, and 
under different circumstances we are differently affected by the 
same amount of sound, heat, and light. Even the degree of con- 
traction of the pupil is comparative, since it takes place to as 
great- an extent when we pass from darkness into candlelight, 
as from the shade into sunshine. 

Various other phenomena of vision are connected with the 
same comparative state of the retina. When the eye has been 
steadily fixed for some little time upon a bright light or a white 
object, a black spot of the same size and shape is afterward seen 
wherever the eye is turned. An analogous effect is produced 
when the object is of any other color. If a red wafer be stuck 
upon a sheet of white paper and looked at steadily for a while, 
and the eyes are then directed to another part of the paper, we 
see a circle of the same size, but of a light green color, approach- 
ing to a blue. The color thus seen after looking at a red object is 
always the same ; and it is called the accidental or complementary 
color of red. In the same way all the primary colors have their 
accidental ones, and probably all secondary ones also. The 
following are the accidental colors of the seven primary, which 
have been determined partly by observation and partly by 
calculation. 



imary colors. 






Accidental colors. 


Red, 


a combination of 


blue and green. 


Orange, 


u 


a 


blue and indigo. 


Yellow, 


u 


a 


indigo and violet. 


Green, 


ft 


a 


violet and red. 


Blue, 


a 


a 


red and orange. 


Indigo, 


a 


a 


orange and yellow. 


Violet, 


u 


« 


green and blue. 



In order to explain these phenomena, it is necessary to recollect 



232 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

that the combination of the seven primary colors produces a 
white, and that if any one of them be wanting, the resulting color 
will vary according to that which is taken away. Thus if red 
be omitted and the other six mixed, the result is a tint of green ; 
if green be omitted, the result is purple ; and so on ; and this re- 
sulting color is the accidental one of that which was omitted. 
This fact suggests the following explanation of the phenomena 
of accidental colors. When a red object is looked at for some 
time, that part of the retina, which has received its image, be- 
comes less sensible to the red rays of light, according to the 
common law of all our sensations. If the eye be then directed 
to a white object, which reflects all the rays, it perceives all 
except the red, to which it has become insensible. It gets then 
the impression of an image composed of all the rays except 
the red ; in other words, an image of the accidental color of red. 
A corresponding effect takes place whatever the original color 
may have been ; and hence has been derived the following defi- 
nition : " The accidental color of any natural color is that which 
results from the mixture of all the colors of the spectrum except 
the natural color itself." 

These facts are capable of some practical applications. They 
indicate a relation of colors to each other something like that of 
the musical notes, and there is a harmony of colors, analogous to 
that of musical sounds. An exquisite taste in the combination 
of colors may be the result of a nice perception of these rela- 
tions, in the same way that an exquisite taste in music is pro- 
duced by a nice perception of the relations of musical sounds. 
It is unquestionable that there are some combinations of color 
which are universally pleasing and others as universally disagree- 
able, independently of any associations or acquired habits. This 
must depend upon some original relation of them to the organs 
of sense and perception. The arrangement of the colors of dress 
and their adaptation to the complexion, the principles to be fol- 
lowed in the furnishing of apartments, in ornamental painting, 
in the manufacture of colored stuffs, all have some connection 
with these laws. When, for example, as in printing, great dis- 
tinctness of outline and strong contrast are required, the color of 
the ground should be the accidental color of the letters. Thus 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 233 

red letters should be printed on a bluish-green ground, and blue 
upon a mixture of orange and red. When, on the contrary, 
a gradual blending or gradual intermixture is desirable, so that 
the eye may rest on a soft and blended mass of light and shade, 
the juxtaposition of accidental colors should be avoided. 

Other interesting phenomena are the result of varieties in the 
sensibility of the retina as connected with the law of accidental 
colors. In a room hung with red curtains, their shadows will be 
observed to have a tinge of green ; and when the clouds around 
the setting sun transmit an orange-colored light, shadows will ap- 
pear blue. It will also be observed, when a person has been 
writing early in the morning by candlelight, that toward sunrise, 
if the rays of light from without become powerful enough to cast 
a shadow on the paper, it will be tinged with blue.* 

In some persons, there is an original incapacity for distinguish- 
ing certain colors, although in other respects the sense of vision 
is perfectly good. There are many who cannot distinguish be- 
tween red and green, so that the fruit and leaves of the cherry- 
tree appear of the same hue ; whether this be red or green can- 
not be known, since color is incapable of description. Others can 
see no difference between green and blue ; and very many of the 
differences of opinion and of taste in relation to colored articles of 
ornament and dress are probably owing to lesser imperfections of 
the same nature. These peculiarities, since attention has been called 
to them, have been found to exist very frequently. The knowl- 
edge of their existence in some individuals may be of great im- 
portance, as in the case of persons employed to give or to take 
note of signals by means of colored flags upon railroads, in 
steamboats, or in vessels at sea, and of those engaged in the 
sale or purchase of colored goods. Singular mistakes in the se- 
lection and matching of dresses have been made from this cause. 

There are two questions which have occasioned a good deal 
of controversy, namely, why from an inverted image upon the 

* Under certain conditions of exposure of the eye to the bright light of the 
sun and the green color of the water in crossing a ferry, the writer has noticed 
that the black letters of a book have been red. It is difficult, where so many 
circumstances are combined, to analyze exactly the condition on which this ap- 
pearance depends, though it is doubtless connected with the same general law, 
and depends upon some modification of the sensibility of the retina. 



234 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

retina the mind perceives the object erect, and why from two 
images, one upon each retina, it perceives a single object. 

To the first, various answers have been given, none of them 
perfectly satisfactory. Probably none can be given. When we 
can explain how from any image at all the mind perceives the 
object from which it proceeds, we may be able to attain to a suffi- 
cient solution, and not till then. 

In regard to the second there is less obscurity, and yet the 
solution is somewhat complicated as well as difficult ; to some 
it may appear unsatisfactory. The range' of absolute single 
vision may have been overrated. It seems probable that only 
one object, or very strictly speaking only one point of an object, 
is seen singly at once. This point will be that to which the optic 
axes are both directed ; and of course they will there cross each 
other. The object placed at this point, where the axes meet, will 
appear single ; all other objects, so situated that they can be ob- 
served by the mind without turning the eye toward them, will 
appear double. 

They appear single, simply because their two images are in 
the same place as respects the eye. But they are in the same 
place only as respects the eye. For if, when looking at any ob- 
ject, we shut first one eye and then the other, the object appears 
to move, because then we notice its place as respects other objects. 
Place is merely relative, and, so far as single vision is concerned, 
it is determined by the relation which the object bears to the eyes 
and to the optic axes. 

In this view, the place of bodies is constantly changing. 
When a finger is held up between the eyes and a candle, 
if we look at the finger, we see two candles, one upon each side 
of it ; if w r e look at the candle, we see two fingers, one upon 
each side of the candle. But the single candle is not in the 
same place where either of the two appeared to be. When the 
eye is shifted from the finger to the candle, the two candles move 
together and form a single object, midway between the double 
ones. The candle then is, during the experiment, seen in three 
apparent places. 

When the eyes, then, are both directed, and the attention 
fixed, upon the same object, its minute relations to surrounding 



OF SIGHT. —EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 235 

ones are disregarded, place is considered only in respect to the 
eye, the images both occupy the same apparent place, and they 
consequently seem to be one. But it becomes double as soon 
as the attention Is diverted to other bodies. 

These remarks suggest the most probable explanation of the 
beautiful phenomena of the stereoscope. In nature, we see all 
objects in two places as it regards other objects except that at 
which we are directly looking at the moment. In an ordi- 
nary painting, we can only see them in precisely the same 
place with both eyes. Hence, however perfect may be the 
drawing, the coloring, and the perspective, that relation is want- 
ing with which we have learned to associate the actual external 
appearance of the objects represented. But when two pictures 
are looked at, one of which represents things in the relation in 
which they appear to each other with one eye, and the other in 
the relation in which they appear with the other eye, in other 
words, when they are represented in different places as respects 
each other, then they appear as in nature, not only with the 
light, shade, perspective, and perhaps color, but also with that 
duality of place which gives the impression of distance, depth, and 
relief. With regard to near objects and single ones, their differ- 
ence, as seen with the two eyes, is small ; but where many are 
present, and at different distances, it is very considerable. Any 
one can satisfy himself of this, by looking at any deep land- 
scape, with the eyes alternately. As the eye first used is closed 
and the second opened, a relative motion immediately takes 
place in the different objects seen. If the two pictures em- 
ployed in the stereoscope be compared, we find in their minute 
details a great many small differences of relative place in ob- 
jects, like those we perceive in nature, when looking successively 
at objects with the two eyes alternately. The more numerous are 
these objects, and the greater their intricacy and varieties of dis- 
tance, the more perfect will be the appearance of reality. 

By education and experience we learn to derive a great deal 
of information from the sense of sight, which it does not origi- 
nally afford us. At birth the eyes are perfect in structure, but are 
moved in their sockets almost at random, and not fixed steadily 
upon objects ; and it is doubtful if the mind takes cognizance of 



236 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

anything but the simple sensation of light. Gradually, par- 
ticular things are looked at. The information derived from the 
eye is instinctively compared with that from the other senses, and, 
after a while, we come to depend upon it for the greater part of 
our knowledge of the external world. 

In judging of the position of other bodies, we are guided by a 
reference to that of our own, especially its relation to the plane 
of the horizon. The natural posture of man being erect, he can 
only maintain his perpendicularity by the harmonious action of a 
great number of muscles. We are constantly operated on by 
causes which tend to throw us from our equilibrium, and we are 
as immediately sensible to any deviation from it, as the balance- 
master to the most trifling inclination of the object he is bal- 
ancing. We restore it by an effort, the result of a habit which 
has been instinctively acquired by a slow process when we were 
young. It is mainly by the sense of seeing that we do this. 
The rope-dancer would fall to the ground immediately, if sud- 
denly deprived of the use of his eyes. 

We judge then much of the position of other bodies by an 
insensible comparison of them with ourselves, — with our own 
feeling of our own position. In this way, for example, most per- 
sons can form an estimate of any considerable deviation from per- 
pendicularity in the walls of a house, the columns of a building, 
the trunk of a tree. Independently of visible objects, however, 
we are much aided in maintaining our own perpendicular position 
by a perception of our own gravitation, and in blind persons it 
is preserved by this alone. 

In a ship at sea both of these aids are disturbed, and conse- 
quently, till new habits are formed, it is difficult to stand or walk, 
whilst at the same time various other related phenomena are ob- 
served. When standing in the cabin, a lamp hung from the 
ceiling appears to oscillate slightly around a perpendicular line, 
while every surrounding object seems to depart from it ; and this 
it really does, and as we are making strong efforts to stand erect, 
we do not lose our reference to the perpendicular, but by the 
feeling of gravitation perceive any considerable deviation from 
it. But when we lie down in a berth we are relieved from the 
effort to stand erect, and consequently lose the perception which 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 237 

guides our judgment of perpendicular position. At once the 
lines which formerly seemed perpendicular, and which really 
were so, apparently become oblique, and swing in various direc- 
tions, while the parts of the vessel itself appear more nearly 
stationary. Articles of clothing, for example, appear to swing 
out from the side of the state-room, at variance with the direc- 
tion of gravitation, whereas they in fact are retaining this direc- 
tion while the surface against which they hang has departed 
from it. The deception is not in this case entirely complete, 
since we are never entirely insensible to the direction in which 
the force of gravity acts. 

With regard to the real and relative places of objects, their 
distance, magnitude, and motions, we are liable to constant er- 
rors; yet we are still able to form judgments sufficiently accurate 
for the common purposes of life. In our estimate of distance, 
we insensibly take into consideration a variety of circumstances. 
Within short distances we are guided partly by the effort re- 
quired to adjust the eye to them, but principally by an instinctive 
perception of the effort made to bring the optic axes together 
upon the object looked at. With one eye shut, a person finds it 
difficult to perform many simple and common operations, as 
snuffing a candle, pouring out a glass of wine, putting a hook 
through a ring ; he finds that he either comes short of, or goes 
beyond the object. 

When the distance is such that the optic axes are nearly 
parallel, our judgment is more imperfect. Where the object is a 
known one, we take into view our knowledge of its size. The 
apparent size of an object depends upon the size of its image 
upon the retina. As it is removed further off, this image becomes 
smaller, and of course the object appears smaller. But if the 
object be a familiar one we are not deceived. We make allow- 
ance for distance in judging of size, and for size in judging of 
distance. When the real size of an object then is known, we 
judge of its distance by its apparent size. When its distance 
is known, we judge of the real size by our knowledge of its 
distance. But it is obvious that in such cases we only approxi- 
mate to a correct estimate. 

When there are no other circumstances to guide us, things 



238 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

which are seen the most vividly and distinctly appear the nearest. 
In twilight, when we are deprived of many of the usual means 
of judgment, we are liable to great errors of vision. Those 
things which are of a light color or are placed in a strong 
light appear nearest. A fire in the night seems always much 
nearer than it really is. Of a number of lamps in the streets 
of a city, the brightest will appear the nearest, unless their posi- 
tion be otherwise known. Of the heavenly bodies our first im- 
pression is that the most brilliant are nearest to the earth. 
Hence some of the fixed stars appear nearer than the fainter 
planets, though they are actually many million times farther off. 

The objects which intervene between us and a distant one aid 
us in forming our judgment of distance and size. In looking at 
a distant mountain we glance over the intermediate space. If it 
present to us a landscape composed of smaller hills, valleys, 
farms, villages, rivers, and lakes, we conclude that the distance 
is great and the mountain large. If, on the contrary, we look 
only over a bleak and uninhabited plain, we underrate the dis- 
tance, and the mountain appears small. Hence partly the dis- 
appointment often experienced upon first beholding very large 
objects, the pyramids for example, under such circumstances. 
For the same reason, large objects seen over the water appear 
comparatively small, and their distance also much less than it 
really is, except to those whose habits enable them to make 
allowance for sources of error. 

Objects seen on the same level with ourselves appear more 
nearly of their real size and distance than those either above or 
below us. From the steeple of a church, a man looks very much 
smaller than when seen at the same distance on level ground. A 
weathercock, which is so small an object when seen at a height 
of an hundred and fifty feet, seems very large when seen at the 
same distance on the earth. In both cases the picture on the 
retina is of the same size, but in the latter our daily experience 
has taught us to take into consideration the effects of distance on 
the apparent size, in the former it has not. . The same is true 
of the apparent size of the sun and moon, as seen near the 
horizon, and when at a high altitude. 

Our judgments concerning the various motions of bodies are 



OF SIGHT. - EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 239 

more complicated. The most simple idea of the motion of an 
external body is derived from the movement of its image over the 
retina. When the eye is at rest and an object moves, its image 
traverses the retina, and we are informed of this motion. But if 
the eye moves in its socket, or we change the position of our 
bodies, the image also traverses the retina, but we do not get the 
idea of motion. This is because we know that the eye, or the 
body, moves. All motions of images on the retina, therefore, do 
not give the impression of motion, but only those which are pro- 
duced by the actual change of place in external things, or else by 
such motions of the eyes or the body as we do not take cogni- 
zance of. 

We learn instinctively to take this into consideration in form- 
ing our estimate of motion ; still we cannot always do it with 
equal accuracy. We are usually aided by a reference to objects 
around us that we know to be stationary. But where there are 
no such objects, we are liable to deception in our sensations, and 
to mistake in our judgments. When two railroad carriages stand 
side by side and one of them is put in motion, a person sitting in 
one and looking at the other cannot tell which it is, unless he 
compare it with some body which he knows to be stationary. 
When we are moving in a vessel on the water, in the midst of 
many others, it is almost impossible to tell which are also mov- 
ing, and which are at rest. In riding through a grove of trees, . 
not only do they seem to move past us in consequence of our 
own progress, but they appear to move in regard to each other, 
crossing and passing away in opposite directions, with various 
degrees of rapidity, and with motions so complicated that, did we 
not know they were stationary, we could not determine from the 
information of sense alone that they were so. The heavenly 
bodies appear to us to move from east to west, although we are 
ourselves moving in the opposite direction, because everything 
immediately around us is at rest with regard to ourselves. 

There are many circumstances under which apparent motions 
of external objects take place, that require to be explained. 
When one of the eyes is pressed a little out of its direction by 
the finger, the object at which we are looking appears to move. 
The drunkard fancies that the earth is rising up under his i'cet y 



240 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

or that the walls of his room are falling over upon him. The 
sick man sees objects whirling around him or dancing strangely 
about. When the mind is disturbed by delirium, these are 
judged to be real phenomena ; in health, we know them to be 
deceptive, but the impression on the sense is not the less vivid. 
The following is the explanation. 

In the natural condition of the organs of this sense, they are 
kept under the control of the will by means of the muscles 
which move them. The mind takes note of all their motions, 
and when images pass over the retina in consequence of these 
motions, it judges that the apparent change of place in external 
objects is due to them. But when this control over the organs 
is lost, when they are moved independently of the will, or when 
the mind ceases to be capable of taking note of and allowing for 
their motions, then the passage of images over the retina produces 
the impression of actual motion in external bodies. If the eyes 
be examined when these phenomena are present, they will ap- 
pear unsteady in their sockets, and affected with a capricious and 
tremulous motion. In the dizziness produced by turning rapidly 
around, the eyes will be found to have a quick, alternate, hori- 
zontal movement from right to left, and from left to right ; of this 
the person takes no cognizance. Consequently, as he is not con- 
scious that the eyes move, the impression produced is that the 
objects around him move rapidly in a horizontal direction ; but 
if this motion be very carefully analyzed, it will be found that it 
is, like that of the eyes, to and fro, and not continuously in the 
same direction. 

These irregular phenomena are frequently the consequence of 
a disturbance or disease in the brain and nervous system. On 
the other hand, actual irregularities in the motions of external 
bodies will in some persons produce a disturbance in the brain 
and nerves. This happens when the motions are such that the 
eyes cannot be steadily fixed upon and follow them.. This is one 
of the causes of sea-sickness, which is much relieved, and some- 
times prevented, by lying down and closing the eyes. Many 
persons cannot look at a body moving rapidly, in a circle without 
becoming dizzy and sick. The motions of dancers in a ballroom, 
the tossing of waves, the swinging of a looking-glass in the 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 241 

air, have all been known to have the same effect, and from the 
same cause. 

We proceed next to an account of some of the circumstances 
in which the eyes of animals vary from those of man, in corre- 
spondence with differences in their necessities, habits, and modes 
of life. 

The head and face are the residence of all the senses except 
feeling and touch, and in very many animals the true touch is 
actually exercised by some part of the face, mouth, tongue, nose, 
and lips, as in the ruminating and pachydermatous animals, 
especially the elephant and tapir. It is worthy of remark, that 
even in our own species the first impulse of the infant is to carry 
every object which it handles directly to the mouth, as if it could 
thus best judge of its sensible qualities. 

Much of the expression of the countenance in man and ani- 
mals depends upon the relative proportions of the head and face. 
A large head and small face give an intellectual and agreeable 
expression ; a large face with a small head, an animal and sensual 
expression. Connected with this difference is a difference in the 
development of the senses of seeing and hearing as compared 
with those of smelling and tasting. As we depart from our own 
species and examine the lower animals, we find the face increas- 
ing in length and size, whilst the head diminishes. The organs 
of smell and taste increase, whilst those of seeing and hearing 
not only do not increase, but, in many cases at least, actually 
diminish in proportion to the size of the whole head and the 
whole animal. 

This difference indicates the relative importance which these 
senses maintain in the constitution and character of the animal. 
When we find that, as the size and capacity of the organs of 
smell and taste increase, those of sight and hearing and touch 
remain stationary or diminish and become less perfect, we infer 
that, though distinct perceptions may be still derived from these 
last senses, yet that the former, physically considered, predomi- 
nate in the character. No doubt the mere perception from sight 
is as perfect in the quadruped as in man, but the range of infor- 
mation he derives from the sense is very small, whilst that which 
he derives from smell and taste is very great. The increasing 
11 



242 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

predominance of these lower senses indicates the decreasing 
empire of intellect and feeling, and the increase of that of simple 
physical propensity. 

Vertebral animals have two eyes, and their structure is mainly 
like that in man. The orbits are also, like those of man, of a 
conoidal shape, the apex within ; but their direction, as respects 
the rest of the head, varies a good deal. In man, the axis of the 
orbit is directed forward and a little outward ; in the monkey 
tribe, slightly inward, whilst the distance between them is 
smaller. This gives them a peculiar expression. A greater or 
less approach to the same is often seen in some individuals, and 
some of the races of mankind. It is often taken to indicate a 
species of cunning like that of apes. 

In other animals the direction of the eyes varies very much. 
Their axes separate from each other more and more in the car- 
nivora, the rodentia, and the ruminant tribes. In some of them 
it is impossible for both of them to be fixed at once on the same - 
object, and of course the harmonious action of the two eyes which 
exists in man is destroyed. Such also is the arrangement in 
some birds, reptiles^ and fishes. In one species of fish, one eye 
looks downward, the other upward. In the flat fish, as the floun- 
der, halibut, sole, &c, they are both upon the same side of the 
head. In whales, which live upon the surface of the water, both 
are upon the top of the head. In some lizards there is a volun- 
tary power of controlling the motions of the eyes separately, and 
of directing each eye to a distinct object. 

When the eyes are situated so far upon the sides of the head 
that they cannot be both directed to the same object, a single eye 
only is employed, and the attention is fixed only upon the image 
conveyed by this. This arrangement has an intimate connection 
with the character and habits of the animals in which it exists. 
It is found in the most marked manner in those which are timid, 
and liable to become the prey of others. The strongly-marked 
carnivorous species, the cat, lion, leopard, wolf, the eagle, the 
vulture, the owl, have the eyes directed forward, whilst in the 
hare, the deer, the squirrel, and a variety of others, both among 
Mammalia and Birds, they are placed upon the side. Such ani- 
mals, doomed to be pursued and devoured by others, are thus, 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 243 

with a very slight motion of the head, enabled to look behind 
and before. One eye is turned in front and the other in the rear. 
By habit, they learn to transfer the attention rapidly from one to 
the other, so that their field of view practically embraces both 
directions, and whilst they keep watch upon the enemy who is 
in pursuit, they can at the same time look forward to select the 
path which will most effectually lead them to a place of safety. 

The size of the eyes bears no exact proportion to that of the 
animal. In some of the larger animals, as the elephant, whale, 
and rhinoceros, they are relatively very small, whilst in some of 
the smaller, on the contrary, as the hare and the squirrel, they 
are very large. In the subterraneous they are again very small, 
as in the mole and the meadow rat. Birds and fishes have large 
eyes in proportion to the size of the head. So far as we can 
judge, the size of the eye bears rather a relation to the kind and 
quantity of light to which the individual is exposed, than to the 
size of its body ; and a very large eye is often, though not uni- 
formly, to be taken as an indication that the animal is capable 
of seeing very well in the dark. The bat, it is true, has a small 
eye, but then it is capable of directing its flight by other means 
than sight, whilst moles and other subterraneous animals derive 
material aid from the sense of hearing. 

The power of adapting the eye so as to see objects distinctly at 
different distances varies much in different animals. Were its 
optical powers always the same, there would be only one distance 
at which the image could be accurately formed on the retina. 
The rays from all nearer objects would come to a focus behind 
the retina, those of more remote before it, and the sight would 
be consequently confused. In man, the range of the distinct vis- 
ion of minute objects is quite limited. It extends only a few 
feet. The same is probably true of a large proportion of quad- 
rupeds, though they are capable of seeing things much nearer to 
the eye than man, a provision rendered necessary by their use 
of the mouth as the organ for seizing their food. Man has ac- 
cordingly a less convexity and a less density of the crystalline 
lens, and he sees distant objects more distinctly. 

But Birds require a much greater range of vision in order to 
adapt them to their mode of life. The common species, which 



244 OF SIGHT. —EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

do not often rise above the height of an ordinary tree, are more 
highly endowed in this particular than any quadruped. The do- 
mestic fowl, while it is supplying its young with food only an inch 
from its eye, will the next moment perceive a bird of prey at a 
great height in the air. Birds that feed on worms and insects 
can see them on the ground from the top of a tree, and on alight- 
ing, can then perceive them with equal distinctness when almost 
in contact. 

By birds of prey this power is possessed in a still more re- 
markable degree. Those which prey upon fish plunge from a 
great height directly into the water, and must not only have per- 
ceived their object at first, but have kept the eye fixed upon it 
during their whole descent. This implies a constant and rapid 
change in its optical condition. It is related of the kite that it 
has been known to discern and direct its course toward a lizard 
in the grass from so great a height that it had been itself invis- 
ible. The power of remote vision is even more remarkable in 
the vulture. A traveller of good credit relates that, having once 
killed an animal and left it on the ground before his tent, he per- 
ceived, after a while, a small speck in the remote heaven, which, 
as it gradually approached, proved to be one of these birds 
directing its course to the carcass. In less than an hour he was 
joined by seventy others, flocking from various quarters. These 
must have been all guided by sight, and the eye in such cases 
actually combines the powers of the telescope and microscope ; 
on the one hand seeing objects very minute and near, and on 
the other, those very remote, with equal accuracy. 

There can be no doubt that this result is brought about by a 
nice adjustment of the parts of the eye. The exact mode is, 
however, too imperfectly understood to admit of a satisfactory 
explanation. 

The eyes of Fishes require a modification, growing out of the 
great density of the medium through which light comes to them. 
The refracting power of the humors needs to be very much in- 
creased. In man, a considerable part of the refraction takes 
place upon the convex surface of the aqueous humor, which is 
much denser than air. But he cannot see under water, when 
the eye is in contact with it, however transparent, because the 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 245 

rajs come from so dense a medium that they do not undergo 
such a refraction as will produce a distinct image. So too in 
Fishes.very little if any refraction is produced by the aqueous hu- 
mor, but we find, instead of the soft and slightly convex lens of 
Mammalia and Birds, one which is nearly spherical and much 
more dense ; at its centre, of almost a stony hardness. It is 
obvious in what way this structure adapts them to the dense 
medium in which they live. 

There are some common facts connected with this statement 
which require explanation, as they seem at first contradictory to 
it, — such as the exercise of sight by persons with regard to 
objects at the bottom of the water, as by divers and those in a 
diving-bell, and by fishes,who see objects perfectly well in the air 
above them and on the banks of rivers and lakes, when they are 
themselves in the water. 

It is only necessary to state that a medium does not affect the 
formation of an image in the eye, unless it be directly in contact 
with it, or unless it have, from its shape, produced a refraction 
in the rays which pass from it to the eye. Hence the difference 
between looking through a plate of plain glass and a lens. Now 
if the eye be out of the water and the surface be perfectly smooth, 
we can see through it as well as through glass. But not so if we 
dip the head beneath it, so that it comes in contact with the eye. 
Then vision becomes very indistinct. Pearl-fishers can see only 
a short distance, and that very imperfectly ; whilst with those 
who descend in diving-bells the air continues to be the medium 
of vision, and they are hence able to see very well where there 
is sufficient light. 

In the same way the vision of Fishes is explained. The fish 
while it remains in the water, if its surface be smooth, sees ob- 
jects in air as plainly as we do in water. He sees insects on the 
surface, birds in the air, the fishermen on the shore. But when 
drawn upon land, objects become as indistinct as they are to us 
when we are under water. 

The only condition necessary to enable an animal to see from 
its natural medium into another, both being sufficiently trans- 
parent, is that the surface of that into which he looks should be 
perfectly plain and even. Grinding a plate of glass does not 



246 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

render it less transparent. It destroys the evenness of its sur- 
face by breaking it up into an infinity of small irregular surfaces, 
each of which refracts differently, and thus disperses the rays of 
light passing through it. So, too, the agitation of the most trans- 
parent water produces an irregularity of refraction at the sur- 
face which prevents our seeing to any depth. For the same 
reason, under these circumstances, fishes cannot see out of it, and 
hence the well-known advantage to the fisherman of such a 
disturbance. 

Mere motion in a transparent medium does not interfere with 
the direct passage of rays and with distinct vision, unless it be 
accompanied by such an inequality of its surface. We see 
through the air as well in the highest wind as in a calm ; and 
to the bottom of a rapid stream, if it flow on with an unruffled 
surface, as well as of a quiet lake. But if motion be accompa- 
nied by an inequality in the density of different parts of the me- 
dium, or an irregularity of its surface, vision is more or less 
imperfect. We have examples of this during the solution of 
transparent salts in water, and in the columns of heated air 
which are seen arising from a heated body. Upon the same 
cause depends the greater indistinctness of objects when seen 
through the unequally heated air of summer, as compared with 
the cold and equal atmosphere of winter. The ground-glass 
shade of our lamps diminishes but little the amount of light 
diffused through an apartment, but it prevents entirely our dis- 
cerning the form and outline of the flame. 

The habits of some animals require that they should see both 
in air and water. Such are the whales and other cetaceous 
animals, the frog, tortoise, alligator, crocodile, &c. In ani- 
mals of this description, the structure is somewhere between 
those of Mammalia and Fishes. The crystalline lens is more con- 
vex and more dense than in quadrupeds and birds, but less so 
than in fishes. It is probable that their vision, both in air and 
water, is somewhat imperfect ; that they cannot see so well in air 
as quadrupeds and birds, nor in water as fishes. There is some- 
thing in their history which confirms this. Are there any facts 
which show that reptiles are possessed of a keen sense of sight ? 
May not the alleged ease with which the attacks of crocodiles 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 247 

and alligators are foiled be partly owing to their imperfect vision ? 
May not the ease with which the whale is subdued by means so 
insignificant, and the apparent stupidity shown, in his attempts to 
escape, depend rather on a defect of accurate vision than on any 
real want of sagacity ? 

There are many varieties in the form and structure of the eye- 
brows and eyelids, which serve to illustrate the circumstances 
under which vision is exercised by different animals. We have 
room, however, to notice only a single provision, — the third eyelid 
or nictitating membrane in birds. Birds, like the Mammalia, 
have two principal eyelids, an upper and an under ; but, beside 
this, they have another, whose uses and motion are peculiar. It 
is a loose membrane lying folded up at the inner corner of the 
eye, but capable of being drawn across it in a horizontal or 
rather an oblique direction from within outward. It assists in the 
operation of winking. It does not move with the rapidity of the 
other lids, but more gradually. It is best seen in those which 
have a large cornea, as the owl ; and its slow and very distinct 
movements in this bird give to it an expression of almost ludi- 
crous solemnity. It is brought out more rapidly when the animal 
apprehends that some foreign body is about to touch the ball. 
This is not its only use. As it is not entirely opaque, it still 
permits an imperfect view of external objects, and defends the 
eye not only against very strong light, but against injury from 
leaves, grass; bushes, and branches of trees, among which the food 
is often sought. 

Fishes have no movable eyelids. In fact, the skin is continued 
over the orbit, becoming transparent where it corresponds to the 
globe of the eye, and inclosing it in a cavity, the anterior part of 
which is thus secured as it were by a plate of glass. The opera- 
tion of winking is rendered unnecessary by this arrangement, and 
the tender organ is also protected by it from the rough contact 
of the various bodies which are constantly floating in water. 

Among all the vertebral animals the eyes are modelled upon 
the same general plan as those of man ; but in the other branches 
we find organs clearly intended for the same function, where the 
object seems to be brought about in a somewhat different way. 

The minute structure of the organ in these animals, by which 



248 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 



the rays of light are prepared for the retina, is not entirely under- 
stood. It is pretty certain there is no complicated refracting appa- 
ratus like that already described. We are forced to the conclu- 
sion that in these cases light operates in a manner somewhat dif- 
ferent from that in which it does in Man and the other Verte- 
brata, and that it may produce vision by its simple conveyance to 
the nervous surface without refraction ; the transparent medium 
merely serving to transmit it, and to protect from injury the deli- 
cate structure necessary to receive the impression. 

Of this description are the eyes of Insects. They are either 
simple or compound. The simple consist of a single lens of 
which there may be a variable number. They are not uniformly 
situated, but in different species occupy different parts of the head, 
and are sometimes, as in the case of some of the Crustacea, ele- 
vated upon a footstalk. 

A compound eye is composed of a number of six-sided lenses 
or transparent plates. Their number varies from one to four, 
and the number of lenses from fifty to near 25,000. Under a 
microscope of moderate magnifying power, they are easily seen 
in the common house-fly, where they form the two brown, project- 
ing, hemispheroidal protuberances upon the sides of the head. . 

Fig. 49. 




Compound eyes of the bee magnified a, «, antennae ; A. hexagonal lenses still more 
magnified ; B. same with hairs growing between them. 

One reason for endowing insects with such a number of eyes 
is to compensate them for their want of power to turn them in 
various directions. Instead of turning the eye from one object 
to another, they simply turn the attention from the image pro- 
duced through one lens to that through another, and in this way 
are probably able to estimate the direction, distance, and relation 



OF SIGHT.— EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 249 

of objects. Of the sense of sight in those animals still lower 
in the scale, our knowledge is too imperfect to render it expedi- 
ent to enter into its consideration. It is only to be remarked 
that the more minutely their structure is investigated, the more 
there appears reason to believe that it is possessed by those 
formerly supposed to be destitute of it, and that it is also exer- 
cised in them by distinct organs of vision. 

In the full possession of our faculties in adult life, the control 
of the senses and the power of deriving knowledge from them 
seem to be an original possession. This, however, is not so. The 
infant comes into the world in entire ignorance, not only of the 
qualities, but of the very existence, of anything beside himself. A 
dim consciousness of his own being and of his own sensations 
is all that belongs to him. By means of his senses, his perceptive 
and reflective powers, he slowly acquires a knowledge of the 
world without himself, and the relation he bears to it. 

The senses require to be educated. But there is in fact no 
improvement in the senses themselves. Actual sensation, for 
aught we know, is as perfect in the infant as in the adult. The 
impressions received are probably the same at all ages, while the 
organ remains healthy. The education is wholly within the 
mind, and depends upon an instinctive observation, comparison, 
and judgment of the various impressions that are received. 

At first each sensation is referred to a distinct origin. The 
infant has no idea that the object whose taste was grateful to him 
is the same he had just smelt, or that the one he had smelt was the 
same he had just touched. So of sight. He cannot know that 
the object he sees is that which he has just felt. He learns this 
association only by experience, and learns it slowly. Light 
affects him pleasantly very soon. Bright objects attract his at- 
tention, and the sensations they produce are agreeable, but nothing 
further. His earliest moments are spent in training the sense 
of touch, and, in connection with it, the organs of motion. His 
time is occupied when awake in a variety of vague and irregular 
motions, which seem for a long time to have no purpose. By 
them he gradually learns the use of his arms and hands, and 
associates the perception of their motions with the appearances 
they exhibit to the sight. 
11* 



250 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

It is principally touch and sight which are educated together, 
and have the most important influence upon each other. The 
sense of taste perhaps gives an original impulse to that of touch ; 
but it is by the aid of the latter combined with sight, that we lay 
the foundation upon which is built up our knowledge of the 
external world. The first step is to learn when these two senses 
are operated upon by the same object, and there is little progress 
made till this has been taken. 

It is by the touch that the child first learns the existence of 
anything beside itself. An odor, a taste, a sound, do not neces- 
sarily imply it. They may be merely the affections of the per- 
cipient principle itself. It is different with the touch and feeling. 
When the infant touches his own body he has a double sensation, 
— in the part which touches, and the part which is touched. When 
he touches another body it is not so ; the sensation is single. 
When he thrusts his hand into his mouth, he feels his mouth with 
his hand, and his hand with his mouth. When he puts his rattle 
there, he perceives that it is an object which bears a different 
relation to him, and thus he gets the primary distinction of a 
foreign body. 

This distinction is gradually taught to the sense of sight, and 
by repeated observations and comparisons he learns to associate 
together the impressions derived from the two, to correct the in- 
formation derived from one by the other, and by degrees acquires 
all that minuteness and accuracy in the knowledge of the things 
about him which he at last possesses. The first steps in this 
process are made slowly and with great difficulty ; but when they 
are once taken, the subsequent progress becomes easy and rapid. 

The sense of touch then is the chief educator of that of sight; 
and it is partly owing to the absence of any such educator of 
hearing, that the infant is so much later in deriving knowledge 
through this inlet. It is partly, also, owing to the fact that the 
sense of sight may be at all times exercised upon all bodies, 
whilst sounds are only occasional ; they are not given out by all 
bodies, nor by any bodies at all times. 

The first sounds distinctly appreciated by the infant are prob- 
ably those made by himself; though loud and sudden ones pro- 
duce a shock that is noticed. He exerts the organs of voice 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 251 

at first as he does his limbs, instinctively, but without distinct 
purpose. By and by he discovers that certain efforts are ac- 
companied by certain sounds, and this association is gradually 
followed by a succession of others ; but his advance in the 
knowledge of sounds is far more slow than in that of colors, and 
principally for the reason just named, that color is a constant, 
whilst sound is only an occasional, attribute of bodies. It is also 
difficult to refer sounds to their origin, and the touch does not in 
this case aid us as it does in that of the eye. We cannot be sure 
that the body we touch is that which has emitted a sound. It is 
only after a considerable advance has been made in the education 
of the sense of sight, that that of hearing arrives at a tolerable 
degree of accuracy. 

But though thus so late in its development, hearing ultimately 
becomes as important as seeing. Merely as animals, having 
certain wants to satisfy and desires to gratify, there is no doubt 
of the greater value to us of the sense of sight. But when man 
is regarded as an intellectual, moral, and social being, the sense of 
hearing assumes an increased relative importance. Upon this 
depends voice and language, the medium by which we communi- 
cate with the rest of our species. By it we receive much of our 
knowledge ; by it the intellect is cultivated ; by it the emotions, 
affections, and passions are excited, and by the voice, which is 
trained only by its aid, they are expressed. It is the great agent 
of human intercourse ; and, although human ingenuity has devised 
means of obtaining the entrance of language to the mind through 
the senses of sight and touch, yet this is but a secondary use. 
The origin of language depends upon the sense of hearing. 

It is worthy of remark, that after the senses are completely 
educated we mainly depend, in our intercourse with the external 
world, upon those from which we originally get the most imper- 
fect information, — sight and hearing. It is difficult to imagine, 
were we confined to these two from the first, how we could make 
any progress in our knowledge of other things than ourselves. 
So far as we can judge, the scene about us must appear like a 
dream, a vain and unsubstantial vision. 

There are various other relations of the senses in man that it 
would be interesting to point out, but this would lead to too wide 



252 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

a discussion. It is only necessary to remark further, that, al- 
though in this analysis, of their office and education they have 
been spoken of as developed and educated in succession, this is 
not strictly true. The sight does not wait till the touch is per- 
fected, nor the hearing till both have been fully instructed. 
There is the order of precedence which has been pointed out in 
the degree of progress, but the education of all begins as soon as 
they begin to receive impressions, and advances with a rapidity 
proportioned to the necessities of existence, and to the develop- 
ment of the internal powers to which they are subservient. 

Among the lower animals, there is a great difference in the 
capacity for the exercise of the senses which they manifest at 
birth, and the amount of education necessary in order to their 
perfection. Generally, however, they come speedily to their 
perfect use; and that capacity for employing them, which in 
man is the result of a course of training, is in them instinct- 
ively possessed. The chicken, as soon as it has left the egg, 
can not only see and hear, but can judge at once of the dis- 
tance, position, and magnitude of bodies, of the direction and 
import of sounds, and can direct its voluntary movements in con- 
formity with this knowledge. This difference depends not upon 
the organs of sense and the organs of motion, but upon the inter- 
nal principle with which these are associated and by which they 
are directed. The chick comes into existence possessed of an 
instinct already instructed and informed. Little is left to in- 
telligence or education. The infant, on the contrary, has few 
informed instincts, but it has instead an intelligent principle ex- 
isting in embryo, destitute of knowledge, and capable of arriving 
only by a slow and laborious, though still an instinctive, process at 
the same capacity for receiving and judging of the impressions 
on the senses. 

The senses, taken all together, in man are superior to those 
of other animals, simply because he possesses the best means of 
educating them ; and this is done chiefly by the perfection of his 
touch, in which he excels all, whilst in particular senses he is 
excelled by many. Quadrupeds derive impressions through the 
organ of smell, of which we have no adequate conception. In 
the dog, for example, it is the test to which he brings every new 



OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 253 

object. He does not trust to sight or hearing alone. He judges 
by his smell, as man does by sight. The fondness which he at 
once shows for some individuals seems to be of the same nature 
as the agreeable impression often made upon us at the first sight 
of a stranger. The dog who has been long absent from his mas- 
ter is never satisfied of his identity till he has subjected him to 
this ordeal. In Birds probably the sight is predominant, and in 
Fishes hearing. Still there is much that is difficult to account 
for, in regard to the information derived by animals — so far 
as we know — from the senses they have in common with us. 
How do birds direct their course in their long migrations, and 
arrive always safely at their destined end ? How do fishes pass 
from sea to sea and up the course of rivers with such unerring 
certainty, through a waste of waters which can bear no marks 
for their guidance ? Man does similar things only as the result 
of long experience, careful observation, and by bringing to his 
aid the discoveries which science has slowly accumulated. The 
history of the whole animal creation is full of phenomena really 
as wonderful as these. 

So remarkable are some of those exhibited by insects, that it 
has been even supposed that they may possess senses which we 
do not ; at any rate, it is certain that they derive information from 
external objects, to which we are always strangers. Still the 
organs by which this is done have not been detected, and it is not 
even certain, with the exception of the eye, what is the distinctive 
function of the several parts which are obviously concerned in 
conveying to them information about sensible objects. Facts 
have been stated which render it probable that the antennae are 
the seat of hearing ; but beyond this there are also circumstances 
which appear to imply that they are not only the seat of com- 
bined powers of sensation, of which we have no clear conception, 
but also of reciprocal powers of communication. Some examples 
of this sort will be found in other parts of this work in relation 
to ants. Huber records a very remarkable one of bees. When 
the queen is taken from a hive, great consternation is manifested 
as soon as the loss becomes known through the community, and 
every absent individual, as he returns, is at once informed, and 
takes part in the alarm. In order to determine how the fact was 



254 OF SIGHT. — EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, ETC. 

communicated from one to another, a hive was divided into two 
parts, by a grating which prevented the contact of the antennae 
of the animals on its two sides. Those remaining with the 
queen continued perfectly tranquil. Those upon the other side 
of the grating were thrown into a state of great agitation, and 
after a while, not discovering their ruler, proceeded as usual to 
take means for the preparation of a successor. The division was 
then so arranged that the antennae could be brought in contact, 
but no other part. No consternation ensued, but a constant com- 
munication was maintained across the grating, by touching the 
antennae, and the queen was stationed at the dividing line, con- 
stantly occupied in answering the inquiries and quieting the ap- 
prehensions of her faithful subjects. 

Bees, like dogs, distinguish persons, remember them, and ex- 
hibit a singular preference for some and antipathy to others. 
Some persons, taking advantage of this peculiarity, have been 
able to handle them with impunity, and by making captive the 
queen and removing her from place to place, have caused the 
whole swarm to settle upon and to move over different parts of 
their bodies. 

Many insects are extremely susceptible to the influences of 
weather, and this may probably be due to that peculiar com- 
pound sensibility of the antennae just referred to. Ants are 
highly endowed in this particular. Although they daily bring 
out their larvae to warm them in the sun, they never suffer them- 
selves to be overtaken by rain. Many other insects are aware 
of the approach of foul weather, before any signs of it are ob- 
vious to us. Bees foresee a shower long before its approach, and 
return suddenly to their hives. When they wander far from 
home and remain abroad late in the evening, it is an indication 
that the ensuing day will be fine. When, on the contrary, they 
remain near at hand, and are seen frequently going and return- 
ing, rain is pretty sure to follow, though we can discern no sign 
of its approach. Perhaps this extreme sensibility may be con- 
nected with a hygrometric property of the antennae, or a power 
of appreciating electrical changes in the atmosphere. 



REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 255 

CHAPTER IX. (W.) 

REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

The production of one living thing from another, and its first 
coming into existence, is a mystery into the intimate nature of 
which we cannot hope to penetrate. We are well acquainted 
with some of the details of the process, but the mode in which 
the principle of life is transmitted from one being to another, and 
by which it is able to convert common matter into a living tissue, 
eludes our observation. The medium of this transmission in the 
case of the plant is a seed, and in the animal an egg. The na- 
ture and purpose of these two bodies is essentially similar. Each 
is the germ of the new creation. The circumstances in which 
they differ have been before pointed out, but those in which they 
resemble each other are quite as striking. 

. The egg may be developed and nourished within the body of 
the mother, in which case the young are born alive ; but in by 
far the larger part of the animal kingdom it is thrown out by the 
parent, and goes through a subsequent process, called incubation. 
A certain degree of heat is necessary to this, as is shown by the 
fact that spme degree of cold will arrest it.* The eggs of many 
insects are laid in the fall, but remain dormant through the win- 
ter, the heat of spring or summer being necessary to their devel- 
opment. Among birds, a more equal and constant as well as a 
higher degree of warmth is necessary, and this is usually sup- 
plied by the body of the mother. In hot climates the external 



* In birds, a heat nearly approaching that of the parent animal is required. 
In reptiles, fishes, insects, &c, the temperature of the medium in which they 
live at the breeding season is sufficient. How low the temperature may fall 
without arresting the process in the lower classes is not certain. In the arctic 
regions, during the summer, insects appear in great numbers when the ther- 
mometer rises to 45° in the daytime, although during some part of every day 
it falls many degrees below the freezing point. Probably, therefore, the em- 
bryo is frozen during some part of every day during the whole process of incu- 
bation; but it is not likely that any active progress ever takes place below 32°, 
if so low as this. 



256 REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

heat is sometimes sufficient, and the parent trusts partially to 
this, as is the case with the ostrich. 

The eggs of the warm-blooded animals are very tender, and 
their vitality is destroyed by the cold of winter, whilst those of 
many others exhibit great tenacity of life, and survive not only 
the influence of cold, but also of extreme heat. They seem even 
capable of surviving the process of digestion, of entering into the 
blood and composition of the tissues, and of becoming afterwards de- 
veloped, either in the body of the living animal or after its death. 

Captain Franklin sa^s, that on the shores of the Polar Seas 
(lat. 69° 30', long. 140° 50') when the thermometer rose to 45° 
they were tormented with mosquitos, and that they retired when 
it fell below this. The immediate activity of these and similar 
insects upon the beginning of warm weather, in regions where 
the temperature falls often to 50° and 60° below zero, and is 
below the freezing point during some portion of almost every 
day in the year, illustrates strongly the preservative powers of 
the vital principle both in the animals themselves and in their 
eggs or larvae. They must of course exist in a frozen state at 
least eight or nine months, and many may, by being inclosed in 
masses of ice, escape the influence of the heat of summer, and thus 
remain congealed year after year. If one year in this condition 
does not destroy their vitality, there is no reason to suppose that 
a longer period will ; and thus it is not impossible they may remain 
for centuries in a dormant state, and at length, if accidentally 
brought under the influence of a summer's sun, be roused to life 
and activity. 

Moisture is another condition necessary to the activity of ani- 
mal life. The vitality of the eggs of the higher animals and of 
the animals themselves is destroyed by drying. It is not so with 
the lower, nor with the seeds of plants, nor even with some plants 
themselves. The seeds of the Egyptian wheat have been found 
in mummies 3000 years old, and have germinated under the 
usual conditions. The snail has been restored to life after being 
perfectly dried ; and many of the Radiata, especially the Infu- 
soria, are capable of enduring the same state for an unlimited 
time.* 
* This has been lately called in question, and extensive observations have 



REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 257 

The influence of atmospheric air is also necessary to the de- 
velopment and activity of life. The seeds of many plants will 
remain dormant for years, if buried deeply in the earth, — prob- 
ably for an indefinite period. Some animals are well known to 
retain life under the same condition. Frogs and toads have 
been found imbedded in stones or at a great depth in the earth, 
where they must have remained for ages ; and have resumed 
their functions as soon as extricated from their captivity. This 
is probably equally true of animals lower in the scale, who have 
a much greater tenacity of life ; and still more, of their eggs and 
larvae. In these ways the ice of the polar regions and the ma- 
terials of our globe may be full of animals or their embryos in 
this latent state, which only require to be exposed to heat, air, 
and moisture to assume all their appropriate functions. 

It is a curious and interesting consideration, that in this way an 
animal whose active state is usually limited to a single season 
may have its existence protracted almost indefinitely. Still its 
period of positive activity is not probably extended, since, in the 
passive state to which it is reduced, there is a complete suspen- 
sion of all its functions, and there is consequently no exhaustion 
of the powers by which life is maintained. 

The instinct of animals is' in no way more remarkably exhibited 
than in the provision they make for the well-being and support 
of their young, and this more among the lower than the higher. 
This instinct 'varies with their nature, and with the character of 
the offspring to be produced. In the common hen, it is at first 
an impulse which seems merely the result of a physical sensation, 
inducing her, after laying her eggs, to sit upon them patiently till 
the chick breaks the shell and utters its first cry. The moment 
this cry is heard it awakens a new sentiment, the maternal, the 
most tender and beautiful in nature. This impels her to leave 
her nest and search for food, and then for the first time she utters 
the peculiar call which her young so well understand. Till this 

been made by competent naturalists with a view to determine it. Still, al- 
though doubt has been thrown upon the capacity of animals to survive the 
perfect and entire exclusion of water from their texture, it seems most prob- 
able that the retention of a very minute quantity is sufficient to prevent their 
destruction. 

17 



258 REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

moment she appears to have no conception of the nature of the 
office in which she is engaged. She sits with the same assiduity 
upon an artificial egg, upon a stone, or upon an empty nest. It 
is not at any particular period that the maternal instinct is 
awakened, for if her eggs are removed or become addled, she re- 
mains brooding over her nest with the same untiring persever- 
ance, for some weeks after her young should have made their 
appearance. 

In insects, the blindness and at the same time the precision of 
this instinct is more strikingly exhibited. In some species the 
butterfly which lays the egg feeds upon flowers, whilst the worm 
that proceeds from it is carnivorous. But the parent places 
within its reach the food which its offspring needs, and not that 
upon which it is itself nourished. 

A species of beetle, called, from its peculiar habits, the burying 
beetle, deposits its eggs in the dead bodies of animals which it 
afterwards buries, in order that its young when they leave the 
egg may have a supply of food. Their industry in accomplishing 
this is most remarkable. In the course of fifty days, four of them 
were observed to bury no less than twelve bodies, among which 
were two frogs and a linnet. 

Even living animals do not escape the same fate. In the 
Mauritius, a traveller informs us that there is a large fly, some- 
thing like the cantharides, who selects the cockroach as his victim, 
and fills its body with his eggs. A species of ichneumon deposits 
his progeny in the body of a caterpillar. The little grubs, when 
hatched, maintain themselves by sucking the juices and devouring 
the textures of the unfortunate victim, but carefully avoid all 
vital parts, so that he continues to live and feed as usual till he 
is about to pass into the chrysalis state. Then the little ichneu- 
mons leave him. He presents the appearance of an almost 
empty skin, and dies a caterpillar. In this case it is stated that 
the egg is deposited, not in any part proper to the caterpillar 
itself, but in the embryo butterfly already formed within, whose 
life is independent, and whose destruction, therefore, inflicts no 
injury upon the caterpillar. 

The instinct of maternity^ when in a state of activity, often 
produces, especially in the higher animals, a great change of 



REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 259 

character. The whole life and energies of the parent, — always 
of the female and in some cases of the male also, — are devoted 
to providing for and defending their young. The timid become 
bold, the weak powerful ; whilst the courageous and strong be- 
come doubly ferocious and violent. The eagle will not hesitate 
to attack any animal, even man, that assails her nest, whilst 
every one knows how fearless and devoted is even the common 
fowl when its brood is in danger.* If we lift up a stone beneath 
which is a colony of ants, each one is seen at once to seize an 
embryo in its arms and scramble off to deposit it in a place of 
safety. The common earwig watches over its progeny as sedu- 
lously as the hen ; broods over them, leads them forth, and col- 
lects them when scattered. The spider will defend its bag of 
young ones to the last extremity, and suffer itself to be destroyed 
rather than part with it. Some moths strip the down from them- 
selves, " to defend from the winter's cold the brood which the 
insect mother will never see." The poppy-bee digs a hole about 
three inches deep, in shape like a Florence flask, lines it with the 
bright petals of the poppy, partly fills it with a mixture of pollen 
and honey, and in this magazine of food deposits her egg. In 
short, the whole history of animated nature is filled with sim- 
ilar examples of the wonders which this instinct is capable of 
performing. 

But although so powerful in degree, this instinct is far from 
being discriminating or uniform in its operation. Some animals, 
as the hog and the rabbit, often devour their young. The com- 
mon fowl, though so fierce in defence of her brood, is regardless 
of their safety in many other points, and will often carelessly 
trample them to death in her nest, or injure them by violence 
while scratching for food. She does not recognize the distinction 

* "In the middle of June, 1821," says Dr. Richardson, " a pair of these 
birds [eagles] attacked me as I was climbing in the vicinity of their nest. 
They flew in circles uttering loud and harsh screams, and alternately stooping 
with such velocity that their motion through the air produced a loud rushing 
noise. They struck their claws within an inch or two of my head ; and I en- 
deavored, by keeping the barrel of my gun close to my cheek and suddenly 
elevating the muzzle when they were in the act of striking, to ascertain whether 
they had the power of instantaneously changing the direction of their rapid 
course, and found that they invariably rose above the obstacle, with the quick- 
ness of thought, showing equal acuteness of vision and power of motion.'' 



260 REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

between the progeny of her own eggs and those of a duck, 
turkey, or guinea-hen, but is equally attached to all. In the 
London Zoological Gardens, the egg of the great condor was 
placed under a hen, who hatched it after patiently waiting seven 
weeks and six days. She was as fond and careful of this strange 
nestling as if it had been one of her own species. A female 
buzzard in captivity was known for several years in succession 
to sit upon the eggs of the common fowl, to bring out full broods, 
and to rear them with the usual care ; but when, on one occa- 
sion, to save her the tedium of confinement, a ready-hatched 
family was supplied her, she devoured them all. The mater- 
nal sentiment was prematurely invoked, the period of incubation 
being necessary to its development. There are instances among 
quadrupeds of a similar deviation, as of a cat who took under 
her protection a couple of foxes in connection with her own 
young, and another who performed the same office to a litter of 
rats. 

Fishes in general take little care of their offspring. But in 
selecting places for the deposit of their eggs, they sometimes 
manifest great solicitude and skill. They make long journeys 
for this purpose, passing from the deep waters of the ocean to 
the shallows, and even migrating from salt water into fresh. 
The spawn is attached to pebbles, to rocks, to sea-weed, to 
leaves of plants, or is slightly buried in the sand, and then left 
to the mercy of the elements. The young when hatched swim 
about by themselves, and furnish food to the various inhabitants 
of the deep, sometimes even to their own parents. To this, 
however, there are some exceptions. The stickleback not only 
builds an elaborate nest of grass, sticks, straw, and stones, in 
which the spawn is deposited, but also guards the young 
after they are hatched, and protects them from destruction by 
other fish. This office, however, is wholly performed by the 
male. The female not only takes no part in it, but, after the 
eggs are deposited and the young come forth, is constantly seek- 
ing to devour them. 

Among Insects the care of the young is for the most part con- 
fined to the preparation of a place of deposit for their eggs, and 
sometimes of food for the young after they make their appear- 



REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 261 

ance. In the social insects something more than this takes place, 
as in the bee and ant. It is a singular circumstance that the ma- 
ternal instinct in these animals does not exist in those by whom 
the eggs are produced, — the queen bee and the female ant, — 
but in the neuters or workers. These have their entire charge, 
watch them constantly, attend them with the most assiduous care, 
and will even sacrifice life in their defence, till the young come 
forth ; but their affection ceases with their office, and they mani- 
fest afterward the utmost indifference. 

The formation of new animals by means of eggs is undoubtedly 
the most common but by no means the exclusive method of 
reproduction. Among some of the lower races, in addition to 
propagation by eggs, it takes place by means of buds as in plants. 
These are formed and nourished upon the body of the parent, and 
after arriving at a suitable stage of development are separated, 
and become distinct individuals. This is easily watched by the 
naked eye in the case of the common freshwater polype, an in- 
habitant of our ponds and ditches, and by the microscope in many 
Infusoria. Reproduction also occurs by a spontaneous process of 
division ; one individual being converted into two equally perfect, 
each possessing all the parts and performing all the functions 
which belonged to the whole animal before their separation. 

Closely connected with the reproduction of animals is the 
regeneration pf parts which have been injured or lost, and also 
the formation of new animals as the result of artificial division. 
Even in the highest classes this capacity exists to a limited 
degree, as in the healing of wounds, the formation of a new bone, 
and, as has been alleged, the restoration of the lens of the eye, 
after its removal in the operation for cataract. Still it is among 
the lower races that it is most distinctly perceived. In the 
polypes, the arms when cut off are restored; and if the body be 
divided into a number of pieces, each will be developed into a 
perfect animal. When one of the rays of the starfish is lost or 
injured, a new one grows from the body. The earth-worm may 
be divided into several segments, each of which provides itself 
with a head and tail, and constitutes a new individual. In the 
planaria, a partial division of the body at either extremity termi- 
nates in the formation of an animal with two heads or two tails. 



262 REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

Crustacea and spiders reproduce claws and legs which they have 
lost ; fishes their fins ; and some of the reptiles their limbs, with 
bones, muscles, and nerves. Even so complex an organ as an 
eye has been restored to the water-newt. 

The changes which attend the development of a new animal 
in the e&% do not cease when it is ushered into the external 
world. They continue to take place through a considerable part 
of its existence. In some species, as in man and the higher 
classes, there is still retained the same general form, mode of life, 
food, and residence ; whilst in others, lower in the scale of being, 
transformations and variations occur to such an extent that the in- 
dividual at one period of its existence presents a form, a structure, 
and functions so different from that which it presents at another, 
that it has been even taken for a creature of a different class. 

Were we able to examine man at only the two. extremities of 
his period of development, with no knowledge whatever of the 
gradual change which has in the mean time taken place, we 
should hardly recognize him as the same being. Differences no 
greater between the young and old of some animals where no 
such opportunity has been afforded, have led to their being re- 
garded as distinct species. But the variations which chiefly 
interest the student of natural history, though probably a re- 
sult of some one great and universal law of development which 
also covers the changes just alluded to, are of a more marked 
and abrupt character, and involve greater departures from the 
form and habits presented at birth. The most interesting ex- 
amples of these are furnished by the transformations of animals of 
the frog kind, by the metamorphoses of insects, and by what has 
been called the alternate generation of animals. 

Every one is familiar with the appearance of the frog when 
it is first noticed in the waters of ponds, ditches, and rivers, 
after being hatched in the spring, — a small, round, black body, 
with a large head, and a tail of considerable length adapted 
for swimming, without limbs, moving, living, and breathing by 
gills, like a fish. After a certain period passed in this state, a 
series of changes takes place : the hind legs sprout out at the 
base of the tail, at a subsequent period the fore legs also make 
their appearance, and the tail wastes and disappears. Contem- 



REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 263 

poraneously, the organs of respiration are undergoing an impor- 
tant modification. The lungs are developed and the gills grad- 
ually become incapable of their function, till the animal can 
breathe only air. It is no longer capable of the life of the fish, 
and, though still in some sense aquatic in its habits, it must 
come occasionally to the surface of the water, or upon the land, 
in order to carry on respiration. 

In many insects, when the egg is hatched, an animal comes 
forth differing as entirely from its parent as a serpent from a 
bird. It leads an entirely different life. It inhabits sometimes 
the water, sometimes the earth. It infests leaves, fruits, the 
bodies of animals. It is called variously a maggot, a worm, a 
caterpillar. Its range of motion, of sensation, and of func- 
tion is extremely limited. It seems indeed to live but to feed 
and grow, it has no sexual character, and, even if living in a 
community with others of the same species, it has little or no 
distinct association with its kind. After a definite period, it 
passes into a condition in which all indications of external 
activity are suspended. Enveloped in a new covering of its 
own manufacture, its mode of existence is not unlike that which 
it passed within the egg. It lives, and in a limited degree 
breathes ; but it does not feed. Still, important changes are 
going on within. A new animal is forming. During this second 
incubation, as it may well be called, as in the first, the materials 
which have been gathered together during its previous life are 
employed in the construction or development of another organism. 
At the appropriate period, active life again returns. A creature 
comes forth endowed with a different nature. It went into its 
place of seclusion one of the most unsightly and disgusting of 
living things. It issues from it one of the most gay and beautiful. 
It then crept slowly and feebly upon the earth. It now floats 
gracefully through the air. Its form, its food, its residence, its 
instincts, have all undergone a radical change. This wonderful 
transformation has always attracted, more than any phenomenon 
in nature, the admiration of mankind. It has been looked upon 
as an emblem of the double destiny of our race ; the worm, of 
our bodies crawling painfully through a sordid existence to the 



264 REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

tomb; the perfect insect, of our souls springing from it to the 
inheritance of a higher life. 

There are still other transformations, less common, and less 
within the limits of common observation, which are equally curi- 
ous and worthy of attention. They have sometimes been re- 
garded as rather indicating a mode of reproduction, than of a 
metamorphosis. They seem, however, to be upon the whole 
more analogous to the latter than to the former. The first in- 
dividual in the series is the product of an egg, but it does not, in 
its turn, produce an egg. It gives origin, by the process of bud- 
ding already referred to, to an offspring entirely different from 
itself. At the next step, however, reproduction takes place by 
the egg in the ordinary way, and so on alternately. It is as if 
the child resembled not its parent but its grandparent. This is 
the simplest and most limited form of the process. In other 
cases it is more complicated, and the number of generations is 
greater. This happens with the aphides or plant-lice, among 
whom it is sometimes the eighth or ninth before the original type 
returns. It is to be remarked as an important circumstance 
indicating the true character of these phenomena, that, as hap- 
pens also in the metamorphosis of the frog and the caterpillar, 
it is only in a single generation that the distinction of sex and 
the production of eggs takes place. It is in this therefore only 
that the animal is to be regarded as in its perfect state ; in the 
others as only in one of the stages of its progress toward it. 

We perceive a certain analogy between these phenomena and 
some which are not infrequently observed in tracing the heredi- 
tary transmission of physical conditions in families of our own 
species and of the animals near us in the scale of being. It often 
happens that some peculiarity of structure, of feature, or of color, 
or some disease belonging to an individual, will vanish in his 
child, and perhaps in his grandchild, but reappear in the succeed- 
ing generation. All these curious phenomena may be connected 
with some real but hidden law of relation of parent to offspring, 
exhibiting itself in different ways according to circumstances, in 
different branches and classes of the animal kingdom. 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS, ETC. 265 



CHAPTER X. (W.) 

DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. COVERING, MIGRATION, AND 

HYBERNATION. 

It seems probable that every species of animals was originally 
created in, and fitted to inhabit, some particular district of the 
earth. Here the individuals belonging to it are most numerous. 
As we depart from it they become more rare, till at last they 
vanish altogether. The space over which they are distributed 
will be more or less extensive according to their peculiar char- 
acter and their power of accommodating themselves to varieties 
of food, climate, soil, and situation. 

Still many animals, though thus found to exist in a natural 
state only within certain limits, are capable of a wider range, and, 
upon being removed by design or by accident, will continue to exist 
in other districts. In this way most of them have been success- 
fully kept in public institutions. A few are capable of endur- 
ing all climates, as man and the dog ; but in order to this 
they either avail themselves of artificial means of protection, 
or undergo certain physical changes. In general, natives of 
temperate countries, where there is a regular alternation of 
seasons, are capable of accommodating themselves to a greater 
variety of climate than those of either the frozen or the tropical 
regions. Thus the horse, the ass, and the sheep have generally 
accompanied man, though not so universally as the dog ; but the 
orang-outang cannot long endure even the mild winters of the 
south of Europe, and the reindeer languishes, sickens, and dies, 
if far removed from his native cold. 

Every country had then originally its peculiar animals, and 
they become diffused over extensive regions only so far as they 
are able to accommodate themselves to the changes which such 
a diffusion requires. Upon setting foot in America, its discov- 
erers found themselves at once in the midst of a living creation 
whose features were new to them; and whenever we hear of the 
discovery of a new country, we expect to learn, in the sequel, of 
12 



266 DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 

the discovery also of new species of animals. So well settled is 
this, that no expedition for the survey of unknown parts of the 
globe is regarded as complete, unless accompanied by professed 
naturalists to observe and record the novelties they are sure to 
meet. 

It belongs to a specific treatise on Natural History to enter 
into a detailed examination of this subject. But of the general 
fact the proofs are obvious and striking. To the two great divis- 
ions of the earth, the Eastern and Western continents, there are 
few if any animals in common, except at their northern extremi- 
ties, where their near approach to each other, and their possible 
communication by means of ice, may have enabled those whose 
original centre was in the one, to pass over and propagate them- 
selves upon the other. The more remarkable species in the Old 
World, the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, camelopard, and 
camel, are not only wanting in the New, but there are even none 
properly corresponding to them among living races, in their gen- 
eral form and character. Of the celebrated carnivorous animals, 
the lion, tiger, &c, there are none which equal the Eastern in 
size, strength, and ferocity. The bison of America is a different 
animal from the buffalo of the other side of the Atlantic, though 
called by the same name, and the monkeys, though resembling 
those of the Old World in general form, character, and disposi- 
tion, are yet distinguished by physical characteristics which leave 
no doubt of their being a different race. As there are animals 
in the East which do not correspond to any of those in the West, 
so the West has also its peculiar races, — the sloths, the arma- 
dillos, the anteaters, and a few Marsupials. 

In regard to the Mammalia, it appears to be mainly true that 
those of the Old World are more noble, and, when domesticated, 
more useful to mankind, than any in the New, and that the aver- 
age of size in the former is above that of the latter. This 
was at one time supposed to justify the conclusion, that the cli- 
mate and soil of America were less favorable to the development 
of animal life than that of Europe and Asia, and that the Euro- 
pean race of man himself was likely to deteriorate when trans- 
planted to these new regions. But beside the fact that man and 
the domestic animals, under circumstances equally favorable, have 



COVERING OF ANIMALS. 267 

not deteriorated in America, an examination of the other classes 
is sufficient to show that this inferiority is not owing to any gen- 
eral causes which exercise an unfavorable influence upon living 
things. The Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes of our continent are at 
least equal to those of the other, whilst Insects are alleged to be 
larger, more numerous, and more beautiful. 

The continent of Australia presents even more remarkable dif- 
ferences in the character of its Mammalia, than those which were 
found to exist on the discovery of America. They are not only 
distinct, but as much inferior in size and useful qualities to those 
of America, as these are to those of Europe. There is not one 
exceeding the dog in size, and they seem to have been created 
upon a somewhat different model, though the same great plan 
has still been adhered to. 

Every animal has thus been originally placed upon such a 
portion of the globe as is best adapted to its structure, its char- 
acter, and its wants. But even in the same situation, the phys- 
ical influences to which it is exposed are not at all times the 
same, and, especially in cold and temperate climates, it is sub- 
jected to great extremes of temperature. At the same time, 
during a longer or shorter period of the year, the supply of food 
for many herbivorous species is cut off, and that of the carniv- 
orous essentially diminished. The disastrous effect of these 
causes is obviated in several ways. Those animals whose food 
continues to be found through the winter months, or who are able 
to lay up a stock of provisions for their support, are protected 
against the injurious effects of cold, by a change in the quantity, 
quality, and color of their usual covering. Of those not thus 
provided for, a part migrate to warmer latitudes, and a part fall 
into a torpid condition, and pass the winter in what is denom- 
inated a state of hybernation. 



1. Of the Covering of Animals. 

In proportion as countries are colder, animals residing in them 
are more thickly clothed by some non-conducting substance, 
usually hair, wool, or feathers. As we approach the tropics this 



268 COVERING OF ANIMALS. 

becomes thinner, till in some cases it vanishes almost entirely, 
and the skin is left nearly naked. In marine animals, so nu- 
merous in the arctic regions, this provision would not answer, 
since the same material which might well serve for an animal 
on land, would be inconvenient to one which inhabits the water. 
Instead, therefore, of a non-conducting protector upon the outside 
of the skin, Nature provides one underneath it, in the form of a 
thick layer of fat. 

The same difference which is required between the clothing 
of the inhabitants of the polar and equatorial regions, is equally 
necessary between the summer and winter clothing of those of 
the temperate. It undergoes a change to correspond with the 
seasons. It becomes thicker upon the approach of winter. It is 
thicker in the higher latitudes than in the lower. In the same lat- 
itude it is more abundant in a severe winter than in a mild one. 
It is produced sooner in an early winter than in a late one ; 
and even a few days of unseasonably cold weather, in the early 
autumn, will sensibly promote its growth. 

Changes of color are not so common or important ; yet, in cold 
climates, there are many instances of a complete change from a 
dark color to a white, both of fur and plumage, on the approach 
of winter. In summer, the Alpine hare is of a tawny gray ; in 
winter, of a snowy white. The ermine, whose summer dress is 
of a pale, reddish brown, undergoes a similar alteration. In the 
color of many birds the same change is observed, as in a great 
variety of those small species known as snow-birds. 

The effect of this, in protecting against cold, depends upon the 
known laws of the transmission of heat. A dark body imparts 
its heat to the atmosphere more rapidly than a light one, when 
the atmosphere is cooler than the body. We know, though we suf- 
fer from heat in summer and from cold in winter, that under all 
ordinary circumstances the atmosphere is colder than our bodies. 
In summer we need provisions which will aid us in parting with 
our heat, and in winter those which will aid us in preserving 
it. A dark covering favors the radiation of heat, a white one 
prevents it; hence the former is the best for summer, and the 
latter for winter. The black skin of the African is best for those 
who are exposed to the heat of a perpetual summer; and the 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 269 

light complexion of the northern races of Europe for those 
whose winter is long and cold. 

This is true wherever the temperature is less than that of the 
body, and the atmosphere itself is seldom otherwise for any 
length of time. But the sun's rays are usually hotter than the 
atmosphere, and when exposed to them, the effects of color will 
be reversed. This seems inconsistent with the fact that the black 
races endure toil under the sun's rays better than the white. It 
is explained, however, by the consideration that the skin of the 
African, from its great oily secretion, reflects heat largely, and 
that there exists a peculiar power in dark-colored surfaces of 
modifying the rays which they absorb, so as not to produce that 
effect upon the living textures which their temperature would 
lead us to expect. 



2. Of the Migration of Animals. 

The second method by which certain animals avoid the dan- 
gers and sufferings of the cold season is by a periodical migra- 
tion. This, so far as it is intended to answer this specific pur- 
pose, takes place chiefly, if not wholly, among Birds. 

In most districts there are some birds which depart on the 
approach of winter to return in the spring; there are others 
which make their appearance only in winter; whilst some are 
constant residents. These constitute three classes, winter birds 
of passage, summer birds of passage, and resident birds. 

The period of the arrival of the winter birds of passage 
varies with each species, and corresponds to that at which the 
advance of the season develops the kind of vegetable or animal 
which furnishes its appropriate food. From the latter end of 
March to the middle or end of May, there is a constant succes- 
sion of fresh arrivals. Mr. Wilson calculated that during this 
period no less than a hundred millions of individuals entered the 
State of Pennsylvania. In a single garden of eight acres, the 
nests of fifty-one pairs were detected and counted. 

The same species is not migratory under all circumstances. 
The American mocking-bird is a resident of the Southern 
States, but in the Northern, is a summer bird of passage. The 



270 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

quail, as it is called in the Northern States, or partridge, as 
denominated by naturalists, is resident in New England, but 
migratory in regions further north ; hence in severe winters it is 
driven from its colder haunts, and appears with us in unusual 
numbers. 

Of birds which ordinarily migrate, a few sometimes remain 
through the winter ; such are the common robin and many 
woodpeckers ; indicating that it is not cold only, but failure of 
food, which renders migration necessary. 

The period of migration varies with the early or late advance 
of the season. A few warm days even in February will bring 
forward several species, just as it causes the buds of plants and 
trees to swell prematurely. On the return of cold, they again 
disappear. With regard to many birds, their migration is not a 
continued flight from the extreme southern to their extreme 
northern residence. They dally on their way. They follow the 
opening spring, and make the journey toward their summer 
quarters with greater or less rapidity, according to the advance 
of the season and the supply of food. If, after going forward a 
few hundred miles on the occurrence of warm weather, it be- 
comes cold again, they retrace their path, and a few hours' flight 
brings them back to a more congenial atmosphere. If they find 
in any spot an abundant supply of food, they delay there an un- 
usual period ; and for this purpose, during their journey in each 
direction, they are observed to make a visit of days and some- 
times of weeks in a particular locality. 

An example of this dilatory migration is afforded in one of 
the most interesting of birds, the bobolink of the Northern, 
the reed-bird or bunting of the Middle, and the rice-bird of 
the Southern States. His winter residence is probably in the 
central parts of the continent from Mexico to the river Amazon, 
and perhaps even further south. At the end of April he first 
enters the United States, and in the beginning of May visits the 
neighborhood of Savannah. In a week more he is seen in 
Pennsylvania, making a continuous journey, and delaying but a 
short time in Virginia to feast upon the green ears of wheat and 
barley. After a week's sojourn in Pennsylvania he leaves for 
more northern quarters, and speedily appears in the northern 



MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 271 

States. Here he makes his home for the season, builds his nest, 
and rears his brood ; but not here alone, for he is found over the 
whole country from New York to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, 
and thence around by the Lakes to the Illinois. As the season 
advances, the plumage of the male changes and the whole tribe 
assume the same colors. Hence it was for a long time supposed, 
in those districts through which they passed on their way south, 
that none but females returned from their summer quarters. By 
the middle of August they begin their return. For two months 
they remain in Pennsylvania, feeding upon the seeds of the reed, 
which they find there in great abundance, and upon which they 
grow very fat. As the nights become cold, they make a second 
remove, and descend upon the rice-fields of the South, where 
they commit great depredation. 

The gradual passage of other birds has been noted by natural- 
ists. The purple martin arrives in Savannah by the first of 
March ; in Philadelphia not till the latter part of the month. The 
cat-bird moves more slowly still to the North. The whippoor- 
will is often heard for a few nights in the spring at some partic- 
ular spot ; but no more till, on his return in autumn, he revisits 
his old haunts,- and his melancholy notes are again heard a few 
more evenings before leaving for the South. 

We are very familiar with many of our summer birds of pas- 
sage, as the thrasher, woodpecker, bluebird, humming-bird, &c. ; 
but, as we a*re less accustomed to the open fields in the cold 
season, those of the winter pass without our notice. There are, 
however, large flocks of small birds of various sizes and colors, 
which fly around farm-houses and barns, and are particularly 
lively before storms of snow and rain. By extreme cold or great 
depth of snow, they are often driven to -seek refuge and food in 
the streets of cities. They are known under the common denomi- 
nation of snow-birds, They include, however, several distinct 
species. One of these is the snow-sparrow, found very ex- 
tensively over the w T hole continent of North America, from the 
Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific Ocean. In the New England States they reside 
from October to April. Their early appearance indicates a 
severe, or at least an early, winter, because it is produced by 



272 MIGRATION OF ANIMALS. 

premature coldness of the season in the countries where they 
have passed the summer. In periods of extreme cold, especially 
when the snow is unusually deep, they are driven in search of 
food to the neighborhood of human habitations, and become very 
familiar. In April they depart for the North, have been observed 
in June at Hudson's Bay, and at a still later period arrive in 
their extreme northern retreats. 

The snow-bunting is another remarkable winter bird. It is 
common to both continents, and is known in Europe from the 
extreme northern countries to the fiftieth degree of latitude. 
They rear their young only in the coldest regions, particularly in 
Greenland and Spitzbergen, where they are found in vast num- 
bers, and are often preserved in a dried state for winter's food. 
Upon the approach of winter they retreat to the South, but never 
seem to require any milder season than that of a moderate winter ; 
and in America, on account of the severity of our seasons as com- 
pared with those of Europe, they penetrate to a more southern 
latitude. 

The migrations which have been enumerated are made for the 
most part in short and interrupted journeys. But there are other 
birds capable of long flights, whose migrations are far more re- 
markable. Such are the Waders and the Web-footed. Of these 
the most universally known are the common wild geese. With 
their movements we are familiar from childhood, as indicating on 
the one hand the approach of winter, and on the other the return 
of spring. They move in regular order, sometimes in a single 
line, sometimes in two lines converging to an angle. Where they 
terminate their flight in either direction is not certainly known. 
A few, on their southern journey, remain behind in some of the 
secluded bays and rivers of the United States, particularly in 
New Jersey ; but the main body passes on, it is not known where. 
The limits of their northern journey are equally uncertain. At 
the Lakes and at Hudson's Bay they are still seen passing on to 
the North. They were seen by Hearne within the Arctic Circle, 
still tending toward the Pole ; and Captain Phipps saw them 
feeding at Spitzbergen, in the latitude of 80°. 

If there be, as late explorations render it probable, an open 
polar sea, its shores and islands are likely to be the summer 



MIGEATION OF ANIMALS. 273 

residence of this and many other migratory species. The con- 
stant and equal influence of the sun for six months in succession 
may very probably produce at least as favorable a season as its 
oblique revolutions in the latitudes somewhat lower. In this re- 
mote region, undisturbed by man, surrounded by an abundance 
of food, they may bask in the uninterrupted sunshine of a polar 
summer, lay their eggs, and rear their young. As soon, however, 
as this task is completed and they tend toward winter quarters, 
this security is at an end. Their flight is like the march of an 
army through an enemy's country. Everywhere the excellence 
of their flesh as food makes them most valuable prey. At 
Hudson's Bay they constitute an article of no small importance, 
and they are destroyed in vast numbers and preserved for use. 
A single sportsman will frequently kill two or three hundred in 
the course of a day. 

The swallows also perform very extensive migrations. It 
was formerly a common belief that these beautiful birds passed 
the winter in a state of torpidity in the banks of rivers, the hol- 
lows of decayed trees, the recesses of old buildings, and even 
imbedded in mud. That some individuals have been occasion- 
ally found in a torpid state and have revived on exposure to 
warmth, is perhaps true. There is, however, the best reason for 
believing that these are exceptional cases, and that an immense 
proportion migrate to a warmer climate. There has been some 
uncertainty as to the regions whither they betake themselves. 
Those of Great Britain have been traced to Africa, whilst those 
of the United States have been supposed to make their way, 
among other places, to Honduras, where they are found in abun- 
dance from October to February. 

Birds which perform short and gradual migrations generally 
move in small and detached bodies ; those which perform long 
ones assemble in groups and set out in large companies. This is 
particularly the case with swallows. Before our country was so 
fully settled, their collections for this purpose were more fre- 
quently noticed. They were in the habit of selecting large 
hollow trees for their place of rendezvous, and here they assem- 
bled and remained in company for several days before beginning 
their annual journey. By those who witnessed their movements, 
12* 



274 HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 

they are described as issuing in the morning from this place of 
retirement in countless numbers, rising up into the air like a 
column of smoke, and dispersing in all quarters. At night, they 
returned a short time before the hour of rest, filling the air in 
every direction, and flitting about as thickly as a swarm of insects 
in the summer's sun. After a while they suddenly united them- 
selves into a regular body, and entered into their hiding-place with 
immense rapidity, pouring into it like a stream of water. 



3. Torpidity, or Hybernation, of Animals. 

The third method by which animals are enabled to escape the 
effects of the cold of winter, is by passing into a state of tor- 
pidity. This state bears a considerable resemblance to sleep, and 
has been sometimes confounded with it. It is, however, a dif- 
ferent condition ; and yet a slight degree of torpidity is not very 
different from a very sound and prolonged sleep. 

Torpidity answers, in another way, the same purpose to those 
animals who pass into this condition, that migration does to 
birds. Birds avoid the winter's cold and scarcity by flying to a 
country where they are sure of adequate warmth and food. 
Quadrupeds effect the same purpose by passing into a state in 
which they require less of these necessities of life. The time of 
going into winter-quarters depends upon climate and season. In 
England it is later than in Scotland ; in the United States, later 
than in Canada. Animals that in New England are torpid from 
October to April, would in Canada pass into this condition in 
September and revive in May. 

The number of quadrupeds that hybernate, or pass into the 
torpid state, is much smaller than of birds that migrate. The 
hybernating animals are of those genera that have claws, never 
of those that have hoofs. A few belong to the Carnivorous tribes, 
as the bat, the tenrec, the hedgehog ; the greater part to the 
Rodentia or Gnawers, as the marmot, hamster, jerboa, dormouse, 
prairie-dog, and woodchuck. 

Their position is the same as in ordinary sleep. The body is 
bent forward upon itself almost into a ball, the head, legs, and 



HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 275 

tail being all gathered up together under the abdomen. In this 
way the animal heat is best preserved, especially in the extremi- 
ties, parts most liable to suffer from its loss. Species that are 
solitary in their ordinary habits do not associate in the dormant 
state, as the hedgehog and dormouse ; those that usually live in 
societies, associate also in the winter, and avail themselves of 
one another's warmth. Bats, for example, congregate in large 
numbers, and suspend themselves in clusters like a swarm of bees. 

As beasts and birds of prey are on the alert all winter, animals 
select such places for their winter's retreat as will secure them 
from their attacks. Bats immure themselves in caverns, in the 
vaults of old castles, and in chimneys ; the dormouse seeks a 
hollow tree, the hedgehog its nest of leaves ; the woodchuck, 
jerboa, marmot, and hamster retreat to their burrows. A Cana- 
dian jerboa was once disinterred, coiled up in the midst of a ball 
of earth and clay twenty inches under ground. He was com- 
pletely torpid when discovered, but speedily revived on exposure 
to a gentle heat. 

Torpidity is not equally complete in all cases. Some species 
accumulate a stock of food, and rouse up occasionally, on the 
occurrence of a few warm days, to partake of it. Still there is, 
to a greater or less degree, an intermission or suspension of the 
important functions of life. The respiration is less in amount, 
and performed at longer intervals than in the natural state. 
The circulation is diminished, and the temperature of the body 
falls. 

When the torpid state is most complete, the animal feels stiff, 
and cold like a reptile. It would at first be supposed dead, for 
no distinct signs of life are at once obvious. When torn or man- 
gled, it manifests no feeling except by an occasional gasp. The 
temperature of a hedgehog in summer, with the air at 78°, was 
97° or 98°. In the torpid state, with the air at 44°, it was only 
48°. The natural temperature of the greater number of small 
animals is a little above that of mankind, varying from 98° to 
104°. In the dormant state it falls to 45°, to 40°, and sometimes 
even as low as 36°. 

The efforts of the lungs are less frequent, and are sometimes 
intermittent. The marmot in its ordinary state makes five hun- 



276 HYBEKNATION OF ANIMALS. 

dred respirations in an hour ; when torpid, these are reduced 
to fifteen. Sometimes a number of respirations are made in 
rapid succession, and they then cease for a considerable interval. 
The respiration varies with the degree of cold. During mild 
weather it is increased ; when colder, diminished ; and when 
extremely severe, it is for a time entirely suspended. Spallan- 
zani placed some dormice, at the temperature of 32°, in receivers 
containing respectively carbonic acid gas, hydrogen, and azote, 
over mercury. They remained in them three hours, and then, 
on exposure to warmth, revived and began to breathe. The 
suspension of respiration in this case prevented the usually in- 
jurious effect of these gases ; for, when a slight warmth had 
somewhat revived the animals, and the respiration was partially 
performed, the experiment was fatal. 

The heart also becomes slower and feebler in its pulsations, 
and often intermittent. In a dormouse, the pulse is naturally 
so rapid as to be counted with difficulty ; but, as he passes into 
the torpid state, it falls in number to eighty, to sixty, and so 
downward to sixteen in the minute. 

Although cold is not the only evil against which torpidity is 
intended to provide, yet this seems to be brought on by the direct 
influence of temperature. If an animal at its usual period of 
hybernation be kept warm, it will be preserved from it. If, after 
becoming torpid, it be carried into a warm atmosphere, it revives, 
whilst a fresh exposure to cold again renders it dormant. Ani- 
mals which in one climate find hybernation necessary for their 
safety, in a warmer are able to dispense with it. The common 
woodchuck, or ground-hog, hybernates in the Northern States; 
but at the South it passes the winter in its natural condition. It 
is also true of a variety of other species, both on the Old Conti- 
nent and the New, that they hybernate at the North, but not 
at the South. 

The state of torpidity may be prevented in animals disposed 
to it by confining them in apartments artificially heated; but, 
even in this case, they exhibit at particular periods a strong 
tendency to fall into it. There are many differences in the de- 
tails of this condition, which may be illustrated by particular ex- 
amples. The dormouse becomes easily torpid, but does not con- 



HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 277 

stantly remain so, frequently awaking to take a little food. It 
is a very fat animal, and does not entirely lose its flesh during its 
hybernation. The marmots, a species allied to the common wood- 
chuck, inhabit the colder regions of the Alps and Pyrenees. In 
them the torpid state is much more complete, and of longer dura- 
tion, continuing from the end of September to the beginning or 
middle of April. The burrow in which they reside is prepared 
with much labor and sagacity. It varies in length from eight to 
twenty feet. It is divided into two passages : a lower one, in- 
tended as a drain to carry off the water which enters from rain 
or melting snow ; and an upper, terminating in a large circular 
chamber with an arched, oven-shaped roof, from three to seven feet 
in diameter. This is, during summer, lined with an abundance of 
soft dried grass, and here the winter is passed. On the approach 
of cold weather, the tenants of the burrow resort to it, close up 
its entrance with earth, stones, and hay, collect themselves into a 
heap, each individual being rolled up in the manner just de- 
scribed, and exhibit no visible signs of life till spring. They 
go into their winter's retreat quite fat ; they come out much 
emaciated. 

The hybernation of the hamster, which inhabits some of the 
northern countries of Europe, does not essentially differ from 
that just described. He does not, however, pass immediately 
into a dormant state, but, having retired to his apartments, and 
closed them, -remains for some weeks awake, feeding moderately 
upon a stock of provisions which he has accumulated. It is only 
during the severest portion of the winter that he becomes com- 
pletely torpid ; for in the spring he rouses himself some time 
before he dares to venture abroad, and again takes food. 

The torpid state, then, is not chiefly intended to enable ani- 
mals to endure a great degree of cold with impunity ; its principal 
and ultimate object is rather to aid them in maintaining life, 
through that season in which their natural food is wanting, 
without suffering from starvation. In the active state of their 
bodily functions, the long privation of food which they must 
undergo would necessarily prove fatal ; in the dormant state they 
endure it with impunity. A certain degree of cold is the ex- 
citing cause of the state of hybernation, but this is its primary 



278 HYBEKNATION OF ANIMALS. 

object. It is, in fact, not only a long sleep, but a long fast. So 
far is it from its being the primary object to enable animals to 
endure cold, that an increase of cold beyond a certain point 
rouses them from it. There is a range of temperature within 
which torpidity continues ; but, as soon as it becomes either colder 
or warmer, it ceases. Animals become torpid, for instance, at 
from about 45° to 55°. If the cold exceed this, at first their 
lethargy is more profound ; but, soon after the thermometer has 
fallen much below the freezing point, they are roused by it. A 
hedgehog, when first exposed to the atmosphere at 26°, slept yery 
soundly, and his temperature fell to 30° ; but, after this had con- 
tinued a couple of days, the heat of his body had risen to 93°, 
and he was awake and moving about. A marmot that had been 
torpid at 45°, being suddenly exposed to a cold of 16°, soon 
revived, moved about, shivered, and tried to escape, but was 
finally frozen to death. 

This is a most curious and interesting provision, and strikingly 
illustrates the purpose for which this condition is induced. The 
ordinary cold of winter produces torpidity, but does not endanger 
life ; the extraordinary, if continued, would cause death, and con- 
sequently it rouses the animal in order to give him a chance to 
escape the impending danger. Except for this arrangement, 
those periods of extraordinary severity to which every climate is 
liable might provS fatal to large numbers of hybernating ani- 
mals. A similar phenomenon has been observed among bees. 
During extremely cold weather the heat of their hives rises to 82°, 
a degree far above its average, and these insects are ail in a state 
of commotion, running to and fro, and exercising their wings 
with great activity, as if to prevent the pernicious effects of cold. 

Animals come out of the torpid state lean, but not always 
greatly emaciated. There are no indications of exhaustion ; on 
the contrary they apply themselves to their usual pursuits with 
renewed energy. It is not improbable, indeed, that this annual 
repose is required by the constitution of some animals in certain 
climates, in the same way that sleep is daily demanded by that 
of all ; and that cold will not produce it where this necessity of 
the system does not exist. A hedgehog, when exposed in sum- 
mer to the same temperature as that which produces torpidity in 



HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 279 

winter, manifested no tendency to that state. He exhibited marks 
of great distress, and for a while resisted the influence of the cold, 
but was finally destroyed by it. 

The first stage of torpidity in animals is probably very like 
that lethargic state into which men fall who are exposed to a 
very low temperature, and which, if indulged in, terminates in a 
condition whence they cannot be aroused, but perish in it from 
cold. This state is described as not attended by distress, but on the 
contrary as a sort of soothing languor, extremely difficult to resist. 
Dr. Solander, who accompanied Captain Cook in one of his voy- 
ages, came near perishing by yielding to it, although so perfectly 
aware of its nature and its danger that he had previously been 
warning his companions against it. In his late voyage to the 
arctic regions, Dr. Kane describes the influence of the same 
condition ; and he found that, by a few moments' indulgence in 
sleep, the strength and spirits were much refreshed. There are 
many facts seeming to show, that in this state both men and ani- 
mals to whom the state of torpidity is not natural are capable 
of resisting the influence of cold longer than if they kept awake. 
In accordance with this law, sheep especially have been known 
to survive a long time while buried under banks of snow. 

Among the lower classes the state of torpidity is more uni- 
versal and complete, and they are capable under its influence of 
enduring much greater degrees of cold. Many of them do not 
breathe, circulate, or digest at all. Some reptiles, as tortoises 
and frogs, dive beneath the mud of ponds and rivers; lizards 
and serpents retire to their holes, to the crevices of rocks, and to 
trunks of trees. If the cold be indefinitely continued, they seem 
capable of continuing torpid an indefinite time. Spallanzani 
kept toads and salamanders in an icehouse for three years, 
during which they exhibited no signs of life. At the end of this 
time, on exposure to warmth, they revived. Fishes have been 
often noticed to revive after being completely frozen ; and, in cold 
latitudes, it is not improbable that the smaller species inhabiting 
shallow waters may thus continue in a state of torpidity for 
months. Among insects and the less perfect animals, this state is 
still more easily induced, continues longer, and is more complete. 

In some parts of the world, the snail has been observed to take 



280 HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 

precautions against cold, which are worthy of note from their 
resemblance to one of our own expedients. When cold weather 
begins, it closes the opening to its shell by a thin partition of a 
glutinous substance, which when dry becomes hard. As the 
season advances, it constructs a succession of these at small dis- 
tances from each other, leaving a stratum of air between each 
two ; in this way imitating the double windows which are found 
so effectual a security in our own habitations. 

Deprivation of moisture has the same effect, upon certain ani- 
mals, to bring on a suspension of their active lives, that simple 
cold has upon others. Many of them may thus be made to pass 
into the torpid state, and to remain in it for a long time. A case 
is related, apparently upon good authority, of the preservation of 
some snails in a dried state for fifteen years, at the end of which 
time, upon the application of moisture, they revived. There can 
be no doubt that many Zoophytes, as well as Insects, are enabled 
to endure a suspension of all the ordinary functions for an in- 
definite time, either by cold or by dryness. 

A specimen of an insect (Buprestis splendens), full of strength 
and vigor, was once observed extricating itself from the wood of 
a desk in which it had been imbedded twenty-two years. This 
was known from the length of time the desk had been in use. 

Five specimens of a green toad were once found in the centre 
of a tree nineteen inches in diameter. Every exertion was made 
to discover a communication between the external air and the 
cavity, but without success. Every part of it was probed with 
care, and water kept in each half for a considerable time, without 
its passing into the wood. The adjoining wood, for half an inch 
from the cavity, appeared as if charred. These reptiles when 
discovered appeared to be dead, but under the influence of a 
warm sun were soon restored to animation. 

In January, 1845, while engaged in mining at a depth of forty- 
five feet, a workman disinterred a frog which was embedded in a 
piece of shale. It appeared at first quite weak, and could only 
move with difficulty. Its eyes were of the natural size and ap- 
pearance, but it could not see ; there was a fissure or line in the 
place of the mouth, but this could not be opened ; and there was 
a deformity in its spine which had assumed an angular shape 



HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 281 

corresponding to that of the cavity in which it had been con- 
fined. It continued to increase in size and weight, though in- 
capable of taking food, and was able to breathe only through the 
thin skin covering its under jaw. Narratives of this kind, though 
given upon what, is apparently good authority, should be re- 
ceived with much caution. Although they may be given in good 
faith, there is no absolute assurance of the competency of the 
observers, or of their having* taken into consideration all the cir- 
cumstances necessary to establish facts intrinsically so improbable. 
The same remark is applicable to the following narrative of 
the alleged torpidity of one of the human species. It is taken 
from an account given by Sir Claude Wade, a British political 
resident at the court of Runjeet Singh, in Lahore, in 1837. Sir 
Claude was an eye-witness of the disinterment of the individual 
concerned, and his character renders the idea of the invention 
of the story by him very improbable. The case was that of a 
fakir who was buried for the space of forty days, and lay dur- 
ing that period as insensible as if dead. Sir Claude did not wit- 
ness the interment of the body, having arrived a few hours after 
it took place ; but he had the testimony of Runjeet Singh 
himself and the most credible witnesses of the court to the fact ; 
and the disinterment took place under circumstances which, in his 
opinion, rendered any deception impossible. The body had been 
deposited in a square building, consisting of a closed room in the 
middle, with *a verandah all around. There had been an open 
door on each side ; three of these had been closed up with brick 
and mortar, the fourth with mud up to the padlock, and this was 
sealed with the "private seal of the prince. There was no aper- 
ture by which air or food could have been admitted. The place 
had been constantly guarded by four sentries, and been regularly 
visited by order of Runjeet Singh, who was himself skeptical as 
to the reality of the phenomenon. The body, tied up in a linen 
bag, which had become mildewed, was found in a cell three feet 
below the level of the floor, in a wooden box, upon which was 
also a padlock sealed like the other. There was no sign of life 
except some heat about the head. The body was bathed in 
warm water, plugs of cotton and wax, with which the nostrils 
and ears had been filled, were taken out ; and after a variety of 



282 HYBERNATION OF ANIMALS. 

other appliances the fakir began to revive, and in the course 
of an hour was able to talk with those about him freely, though 
feebly. It would require additional observation to produce per- 
fect conviction of the reality of this long suspension of anima- 
tion ; yet the evidence is such as would be satisfactory in any 
case where the facts were of a less extraordinary character. 

The attention of observers has been chiefly directed to the 
means provided for the protection or animals against cold. For 
the most part, there is in no portion of the earth such continued 
heat as requires any other provision for protection against it, than 
that power of regulating their own temperature which is pos- 
sessed by all animals. But to this there are exceptions. In 
some tropical regions, during certain seasons of continued heat 
and dryness, many animals pass into a condition analogous to 
hybernation, called aestivation. Of this, the most trustworthy 
account has been given by Tennent, in his account of the island 
of Ceylon. As the alligator becomes torpid from cold, the croco- 
dile does so from heat and dryness, and is found deeply embedded 
in the mud and clay at the bottom of tanks from which all the 
water has been drawn by evaporation. During the dry season 
several kinds of Fishes pass into the same condition, and are 
found under the same circumstances. They are dug up from 
beneath the clay of dried rivers, and this at considerable depths. 
In Abyssinia they have been found at a depth of six feet. Even 
some of the Mammalia pass into the same condition, when heat 
and dryness cut off their supply of food ; thus the tenrec sesti- 
vates in Madagascar, as its allied species, the hedgehog, hyber- 
nates in Europe. Probably it is less the heat to which this 
result is to be attributed, than the dryness that results from it, 
and the consequent lack of food. Fishes, as we are informed 
by Dr. Richardson, remain frozen for a long time in the shallow 
waters of the polar regions, and revive when thawed, — surviving 
thus a long suspension of circulation and respiration. A similar 
suspension must take place when they are buried in heated clay ; 
and the preservation of life is in this case a more remarkable 
phenomenon, since, in addition to the suspension of these func- 
tions, there is an exposure to influences whose tendency is to 
produce decomposition. 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 283 

CHAPTER XL (S.) 

OF THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

Of the quadrupeds that make or choose habitations for them- 
selves, some dig holes in the earth, some take refuge in the cavi- 
ties of decayed trees, and in the clefts of rocks, and some actually 
construct cabins or houses. But the artifices they employ, the 
materials they use, and the situations they select, are so various 
and so numerous, that our plan necessarily limits us to a few of 
the more curious examples. 

The Alpine Marmot is a quadruped about sixteen inches in 
length, and has a short tail. In figure, the marmots have some 
resemblance both to the rat and to the bear. They delight in the 
regions of frost and of snow, and are only to be found on the tops 
of high mountains. Their retreats are formed with much art 
and precaution. With their feet and claws, which are admirably 
adapted to the purpose, they dig the earth with amazing quick- 
ness, and throw it behind them. They do not make a simple 
hole, or a straight or winding tube, but a kind of gallery some- 
what in the form of a Y, placed thus fn , each branch of which 
has an aperture, and both terminate in a capacious apartment. 
This innermost apartment alone is horizontal. Both branches 
of the Y are inclined. One of them leads downward from the 
apartment, and follows the declivity of the mountain. This 
branch is a kind of aqueduct, and receives and carries off the 
filth of their habitations ; the other, which rises above the prin- 
cipal apartment, is used for coming in and going out. The 
place of their abode is well lined with moss and hay, of which 
they lay up great store during the summer. They are social 
animals. Several of them live together, and work in common 
when forming their habitations. Thither they retire during 
rain, or upon the approach of danger. One of them stands sen- 
tinel upon a rock, while the others gambol upon the grass, or are 
employed in cutting it, in order to make hay. If the sentinel 
perceives a man, an eagle, a dog, or other dangerous animal, he 



284 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

alarms his companions by a loud whistle, and is himself the last 
that enters the hole. 

In places much frequented by man, the Beavers neither asso- 
ciate nor build habitations. But in the northern regions of both 
continents, they assemble in the month of June or July, for the 
purpose of uniting into a society, and of building a city. From all 
quarters they arrive in numbers, and soon form a troop of two 
or three hundred. The place of rendezvous is generally the sit- 
uation fixed upon for their establishment, and it is always on the 
banks of waters. If the waters be flat, and seldom rise above 
their ordinary level, as in lakes, the beavers make no bank or 
dam. But in rivers or brooks, where the water is subject to 
risings and fallings, they build a bank, which traverses the river 
from one side to the other, and is often from eighty to a hundred 
feet long, by ten to twelve broad at the base. The part of the 
river where they erect this bank is generally shallow. If they 
find on the margin a large tree which can be made to fall into 
the river, they begin, by cutting it down, to form the principal 
basis of their work. This tree is often thicker than a man's 
body. By gnawing it at the bottom with their four cutting teeth, 
they in a short time accomplish their purpose, and always make 
the tree fall across the river. They next cut the branches from 
the trunk to make it lie level. These operations are performed 
by the joint industry of the whole community. Some of them, 
at the same time, traverse the banks of the river, and cut down 
smaller trees, from the size of a man's leg to that of his thigh. 
These they cut to a certain length, dress them into stakes, and 
first drag them by land to the margin of the river, and then by 
water to the place where the building is carrying on. These 
piles they sink down, and interweave the branches with the 
larger stakes. In performing this operation, many difficulties 
are to be surmounted. In order to dress these stakes, and to put 
them in a situation nearly perpendicular, some of the beavers 
must elevate, with their teeth, the thick ends against the margin 
of the river, or against the cross tree, while others plunge to the 
bottom, and dig holes with their fore feet to receive the points, 
that they may stand on end. When some are laboring in this 
manner, others bring earth in their mouths and with their fore 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 285 

feet, and transport it in such quantities that they fill with it all. 
the intervals between the piles. These piles consist of several 
rows of stakes of equal height, all placed opposite to each other, 
and extend from one bank of the river to the other. The stakes 
facing the lower part of the river are placed perpendicularly ; 
but those which are opposed to the stream slope upward, to sus- 
tain the pressure of the water ; so that the bank, which is ten or 
twelve feet wide at the base, is reduced to two or three at the 
top. Near the top, or thinnest part of the bank, the beavers 
make two or three sloping holes, to allow the surface water to 
escape. These they enlarge or contract in proportion as the 
river rises or falls ; and, when any breaches are made in the bank 
by sudden or violent inundations, they know how to repair them 
when the water subsides. 

Hitherto all these operations were performed by the united 
force and dexterity of the whole community. They now sepa- 
rate into smaller societies, which build cabins or houses. These 
cabins are constructed upon piles near the margin of the river or 
pond, and have two openings, one for the animals going to the 
land, and the other for throwing themselves into the water. The 
form of these edifices is either round or oval, and they vary in 
size from four or five to eight or ten feet in diameter. Some of 
them consist of three or four stories. Their walls are about two 
feet thick, and are raised perpendicularly upon planks, or plain 
stakes, which -serve both for foundations and floors to their houses. 
When they consist of but one story, they rise perpendicularly a 
few feet only, afterwards assume a curved form, and terminate in 
a dome or vault, which answers the purpose of a roof. They are 
built with amazing solidity, and neatly plastered with a kind of 
stucco both within and without. These houses are impenetrable 
to rain, and resist the most impetuous winds. In their construc- 
tion they employ different materials, as wood, stone, and a kind 
of sandy, earth, which is not liable to be dissolved in water. The 
wood they use is generally of the light and tender kinds, as alders, 
poplars, and willows, which commonly grow on the banks of riv- 
ers, and are more easily barked, cut, and transported, than the 
heavier and more solid species of timber. They always begin 
the operation of cutting trees at a foot or a foot and a half stove 



286 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

the ground. They labor in a sitting posture ; and, beside the 
convenience of this posture, they enjoy the pleasure of gnawing 
perpetually the bark and wood, which are their favorite food. 
Of these provisions they lay up ample stores in their cabins to 
support them during the winter. Each cabin has its own maga- 
zine, which is proportioned to the number of its inhabitants, who 
have all a common right to the store, and never pillage their 
neighbors. Some villages are composed of twenty or twenty- 
five cabins. But these large establishments are not frequent ; 
and the common republics seldom exceed ten or twelve fami- 
lies, each having its own quarter of the village, its own mag- 
azine, and its separate habitation. The smallest cabins con- 
tain two, four, or six, and the largest eighteen, twenty, and 
sometimes thirty beavers. As to males and females, they are 
almost always equally paired. Upon a moderate computation, 
therefore, the society is often composed of a hundred and fifty or 
two hundred, who all, at first, labor jointly in raising the great 
public building, and afterwards, in select tribes or companies, in 
making particular habitations. 

The habitations where Moles deposit their young merit a 
particular description. They begin by raising the earth, and 
forming a pretty high arch. They leave partitions, or a kind 
of pillars, at certain distances, beat and press the earth, inter- 
weave it with the roots of plants, and render it so hard and 
solid that the water cannot penetrate the vault, on account of 
its convexity and firmness. They then elevate a little hillock 
under the principal arch ; -upon the latter they lay herbs and 
leaves for a bed to their young. In this situation they are above 
the level of the ground, and, of course, beyond the reach of or- 
dinary inundations. They are, at the same time, defended from 
the rains by the large vault that covers the hillock, upon 
the convexity of which last they rest along with their young. 
The internal hillock is pierced on all sides with sloping holes, 
which descend still lower, and serve as subterraneous passages 
for the mother to go in quest of food for herself and her offspring. 
These by-paths are beaten and firm 7 , extend about twelve or fif- 
teen paces, and issue from the principal mansion like rays from 
a centre. They shut up the entrance of their retreats, and seldom 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 287 

leave them, unless compelled by the admission of water, or when 
their mansions are demolished by art. 

Although the nests of Birds are not properly their habitation?, 
but rather structures for receiving their eggs and rearing their 
young, some account of them comes in most appropriately in this 
place. They have at all times called forth the admiration of 
mankind. In general, they are built with an art so exquisite that 
an exact imitation of them exceeds all the powers of human 
skill and industry. Their style of architecture, the materials 
they employ, and the situations they select, are as various as 
the different species. Individuals of the same species, whatever 
region of the globe they inhabit, collect similar materials, ar- 
range and construct them in the same form, and make choice of 
similar situations for erecting their temporary habitations ; for 
the nests of birds, those of the eagle kind excepted, after the 
young have come to maturity, are usually abandoned by the 
parents. 

There is found among the different orders a great variety both 
as to materials and structure. Those of the rapacious tribes are 
in general rude, and composed of coarse materials, as dried 
twigs, bents, &c. But they are often lined with soft substances. 
They build in elevated rocks, ruinous and sequestered castles 
and towers, and in other solitary retirements. The eyry or nest 
of the Eagle is quite flat, and not hollow, like those of other birds. 
The structure, is so considerable, and composed of such solid ma- 
terials, that it may last many years. Its form resembles that 
of a floor. Its basis consists of sticks about five or six feet in 
length, which are supported at each end, and these are covered 
with several layers of rushes and heath. An eagle's nest was 
found in the Peak of Derbyshire, which Willoughby describes 
in the following manner : " It was made of great sticks, rest- 
ing one end on the edge of a rock, the other on a birch tree. 
Upon these was a layer of rushes, and over them a layer 
of heath, and upon the heath rushes again ; upon which lay 
one young eagle and an addled egg, and by them a lamb, a 
hare, and three heathcocks. The nest was about two yards 
square." 

Mr. Pennant, in his "Indian Zoology," gives the following curi- 



288 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 



ous account of the manner in which the Tailor-bird builds its 
nest. " Had Providence," Mr. Pennant remarks, " left the feath- 
ered tribes unendowed with any particular instinct, the birds 
of the torrid zone would have built their nests in the same un- 
guarded manner as those of Europe ; but there, the lesser 
species, having a certain prescience of the dangers that 
rig. 50. surround them, and of their own weakness, 

suspend their nests at the extreme branches 
of the trees. They are conscious of in- 
habiting a climate replete with enemies to 
them and their young ; with snakes that 
twine up the bodies of the trees, and apes 
that are perpetually in search of prey ; 
but, heaven-instructed, they elude the gliding 
of the one, and the activity of the other. 
The brute creation are more at enmity with 
one another than in other climates ; and 
the birds are obliged to exert an unusual 
artifice in placing their little broods out of 
the reach of an invader. Each aims at the 
same end, though by different means ; some 
form their pensile nest in the shape of a purse, 
deep and open at top ; others with a hole in 
the side ; and others, still more cautious, with 
an entrance at the very bottom, forming their 
Nest of the Tailor-bird. lodge near the summ i t . But the tailor-bird 

seems to have greater diffidence than any of the others ; it will 
not trust its nest even to the extremity of a slender twig, but 
makes one more advance to safety by fixing it to the leaf itself. 
It picks up a dead leaf, and, surprising to relate, sews it to the 
side of a living one, its tender bill being its needle, and its 
thread some fine fibres ; the lining, feathers, gossamer, and down. 
Its eggs are white, the color of the bird light yellow ; its length 
three inches; its weight only three-sixteenths of an ounce; so 
that the materials of the nest and its own size are not likely to 
draw down a habitation that depends on so slight a tenure." 
' Another instance of the same kind fs found in the nest of the 
Baya, a small bird of India, which is built in the form of a 




HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 



289 



bottle, with the entrance at 
its lower side. This is sus- 
pended at the end of a 
slender twig, so that none 
of its enemies can approach 
it. It is constructed of long 
grass, and has more than 
one apartment in its inte- 
rior.' 

Most of the cloven-footed 
water-fowls, or Waders, lay 
their eggs upon the ground. 
But the spoonbills and the 
common heron build large 
nests in trees, and employ 
twigs and other coarse 
materials ; and the storks 
build on churches, or on the tops of houses. Many of the web- 
footed fowls lay their eggs likewise on the ground, as the terns, 
and some of the gulls and mergansers. But ducks pull the 
down from their own breasts, to afford a warmer and more 
comfortable bed for their young. The auks, the guillemots, and 
the puffins or coulternebs, lay their eggs on the naked shelves 
of high rocks. The pen- 




Nest of the Baya. 



guins, for the same pur- 
pose, dig large and deep 
holes underground. 

' The structures erected 
by birds are usually in- 
tended merely as places for 
the reception and hatching 
of their eggs, and they are 
for the most part solitary, 
intended for the occupation 
of a single pair. To this, 
however, there are some 
exceptions. A small bird 
called the Republican Gros- 
13 



Fig. 52. 




Nest of tjifi Republican Grosbeak. 



290 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

beak constructs its nest in a different manner, the same edifice 
containing a large number under one common roof. 

' A still more remarkable example of Bird architecture is the 
construction of a sort of bower by the Bower-birds of Australia. 
These structures do not appear to be intended for hatching the 
eggs, but for a hall of assembly, a place of amusement to which 
resort is had by various individuals during the time of pairing 
and incubation. The following is the description given by Mr. 
Gould of this singular phenomenon. 

" The base consists of an extensive and rather convex plat- 
form of sticks firmly interwoven, on the centre of which the bower 
itself is built ; this, like the platform on which it is placed, and 
with which it is interwoven, is formed of sticks and twigs, but 
of a more slender and flexible description, the tips of the twigs 
being so arranged as to curve inward and nearly meet at the top. 
In the interior of the bower, the materials are so placed that 
the forks of the twigs are always presented outwards, by which 
arrangement not the slightest obstruction is offered to the passage 
of the birds. The interest of this curious bower is much en- 
hanced by the manner in which it is decorated at and near its 
entrance with the most gayly colored articles that can be col- 
lected, such as the blue tail-feathers of the rose-bill and Pennan- 
tian parrots, bleached bones, the shells of snails, &c. Some of the 
feathers are stuck in among the twigs, while others, with the 
bones and shells, are strewed about near the entrances. The 
propensity of these birds to pick up, and fly off with, any attrac- 
tive object is so well known to the natives that they always 
search the runs, as these structures are called, for any small 
missing article that may have been accidentally dropped in the 
brush. I myself found at the entrance of one of them a small, 
neatly-worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a half in length, 
together with some slips of blue cotton rags, which the birds had 
doubtless picked up at a deserted encampment of the natives." 

' One of the most curious of the structures reared by birds for 
the reception of their eggs is that of the Brush Turkey of Aus- 
tralia, a species nearly as large as the common species. Instead 
of hatching out their young by the heat of their own bodies, they 
collect a quantity of vegetable matter into a large heap, by the 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 291 

decay of which sufficient heat is evolved for the purpose. They 
construct in fact a kind of hotbed. Several weeks are employed 
in bringing the materials together, till at length a mound, consist- 
ing of from two to four cart-loads, is formed. This is not the 
work of a single pair ; many join in the work. When the labor 
is completed, the eggs are buried two or three feet deep in the 
fermenting mass, and in due time the young bird is hatched, 
and extricates itself, the parents taking no further interest in 
their offspring. There are other birds that deposit their eggs in 
mounds, sometimes of mere sand ; and it is worthy of remark 
that even the males, when in confinement, from the mere sugges- 
tion of blind instinct, occupy themselves in preparing similar 
mounds ! 

' The largest nests of birds ever noticed are those found on the 
coast of Australia by Captains Cook and Flinders. They were 
built of sticks and branches of trees upon the ground, and were 
no less than twenty-six feet in circumference and thirty-two 
inches high, the materials of which each was composed being 
enough to fill a cart. No known living bird is large enough to 
have built, or to occupy, such a nest. It has been conjectured that 
it might have belonged to the gigantic species whose bones have 
been found in New Zealand, and that the fossil footmarks found 
upon sandstone on the Connecticut belonged to animals of a sim- 
ilar gigantic size.' 

1 The most* remarkable examples of animal architecture are 
found among the habitations of Insects. Some of these are con- 
structed by single individuals, and others are the result of the 
combined labors of large associations. The main purpose in all 
seems to be to provide a secure retreat in which to deposit their 
eggs and rear their young. Its use as a habitation is secondary 
and incidental. The nests of the Mason Bee are composed of a 
kind of mortar, whence its name, and are affixed to the sides of 
houses or other walls, and have the appearance of accidental 
prominences of dirt or clay. The interior consists of an assem- 
blage of different cells, each of which affords shelter to one of the 
young. The mortar of which these cells are built, is composed 
of sand mixed with, and made coherent by, a glutinous secretion 
from the body of the female parent, who is alone occupied in this 



" 292 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

labor. In each of these cells an egg is hatched into a small, 
white worm ; and, the vacant space having been filled up by the 
indefatigable parent with a paste composed of farina and honey, 
upon this the young animal feeds until it has accomplished its 
metamorphoses. It then makes its way through the covering of 
the cell, and takes flight into the open air. 

' The nests of another species of solitary bee are built in the 
substance of the wood of soft or decaying trees. They consist 
of a long canal dug out by the teeth of the insect, which is then 
divided by a succession of partitions into a number of cells, one 
above another, in each of which an egg is laid, and surrounded 
by a similar deposit of food for the future young. But the wise 
precautions thus taken by the careful mother are often defeated 
by a cunning enemy. Before the cells are finally closed, the 
ichneumon-fly deposits in them its own eggs, and the larvae pro- 
ceeding from them devour not only the provisions laid up by 
the bee, but also her progeny whom she has labored so hard to 
protect.' 

Another small species of solitary bee dig holes in the earth 
to make a convenient habitation for their young. Their nests 
are composed of cylindrical cells, fixed to one another, and each 
of them, in figure, resembling a thimble. Their bottom, of course, 
is convex or rounded. The bottom of the second is inserted into 
the entry of the first ; and the entry of the second receives the 
bottom of the third. They are not all of the same length. 
Some of them are iive lines long, others only four, and their 
diameters seldom exceed two lines. Sometimes only two of 
these cells are joined together ; and, at other times, we find 
three or four, which form a kind of cylinder. This cylinder 
is composed of alternate bands of two different colors ; the 
narrowest, at the juncture of two cells, are white, and the 
broadest are of a reddish brown. The cells consist of a num- 
ber of fine membranes, formed of a glutinous and transparent 
substance from the animal's mouth. Each cell our bee fills with 
the farina of flowers diluted with honey, and in this paste she 
deposits an egg. She then covers the cell, by gluing to its mouth 
a fine cellular substance taken from the leaves of some plant ; 
and in this manner she proceeds till her cylindrical nest is com- 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 293 

pleted. The worms which are hatched from the eggs feed upon 
the paste, so carefully laid up for them by the mother, till they 
are transformed into flies similar to their parents. 

Some examples of the operations of associating insects, who 
construct habitations by exerting a common and mutual labor, 
may next be noticed. 

In the formation of their combs, Bees seem to resolve a problem 
which would be not a little puzzling to some geometers, namely, 
a quantity of wax being given, to make of it equal and similar 
cells, of a determined capacity, but of the largest size in propor- 
tion to the quantity of matter employed, and disposed in such a 
manner as to occupy in the hive the least possible space. Every 
part of this problem is completely executed by the bees. By 
applying hexagonal cells to each other's sides, no void spaces are 
left between them ; and, though the same end might be accom- 
plished by other figures, yet they would, necessarily require a 
greater quantity of wax. Besides, hexagonal cells are better 
fitted to receive the cylindrical bodies of these insects. A comb 
consists of two strata of cells applied to each other's ends. This 
arrangement both saves room in the hive, and it gives a double 
entry into the cells of which the comb is composed. As a further 
saving of wax, and preventing void spaces, the bases of these 
cells in one stratum of a comb serve for bases to the opposite 
stratum. In a word, the more minutely the construction of these 
cells is examined, the more will the admiration of the observer 
be excited. The walls of the cells are so extremely thin that 
their mouths would be in danger of suffering by the entering and 
issuing of the bees. To prevent this disaster, they make a kind 
of ring round the margin of each cell, and this ring is three or 
four times as thick as the walls. 

The cells of bees are designed for different purposes. Some 
of them are employed for the accumulation and preservation of 
honey. In others the female deposits her eggs, and from these 
eggs worms are hatched, which remain in the cells till their final 
transformation into flies. The drones, or males, are larger than 
the common, or working bees ; and the queen, or mother of the 
hive, is much larger than either. A cell destined for the lodg- 
ment of a male or female worm, must, therefore, be considerably 



294 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

larger than the cells of the smaller working bees. The number 
of cells destined for the reception of the working bees far exceeds 
that of the cells in which the males are lodged. The honey cells 
are always made deeper and more capacious than the others. 
When the honey collected is so abundant that the vessels cannot 
contain it, the bees lengthen, and, of course, deepen, the honey 
cells. 

Their mode of working, and the disposition and division of 
their labor, when put into an empty hive, do much honor to the 
sagacity of bees. They immediately begin to lay the foundations 
of their combs, which they execute with surprising quickness and 
alacrity. Soon after they begin to construct one comb, they 
divide into two or three companies, each of which, in different 
parts of the hive, is occupied with the same operations. By this 
division of labor, a greater number of bees have an opportunity 
of being employed at the same time, and, consequently, the com- 
mon work is sooner finished. The combs are generally arranged 
in a direction parallel to each other. An interval, or street, be- 
tween the combs, is always left, that the bees may have a free 
passage, and an easy communication with the different combs in 
the hive. These streets are just wide enough to allow two bees 
to pass one another. Beside these parallel streets, to shorten 
their journey when working they leave several round cross pas- 
sages, which are always covered. 

Bees carry into their hives, by means of their hind thighs, 
great quantities of the farina, or dust, of flowers. After many 
experiments made by Reaumur, with a view to discover whether 
this dust contained real wax, he was obliged to acknowledge that 
he could never find that wax formed any part of its composition. 
He at length discovered, that wax was not a substance produced 
by the mixture of farina with any glutinous substance, nor by 
trituration, or any mechanical operation. By long and attentive 
observation, he found that the bees actually eat the farina which 
they so industriously collect; and that this farina, by an animal 
process, is converted into wax. This digestive process, which is 
necessary to the formation of wax, is carried on in the second 
stomach, and perhaps in the intestines, of bees. After knowing 
the place where this operation is performed, chemists will prob- 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 295 

ably allow that it is equally difficult to make real wax with the 
farina of flowers, as to make chyle with animal or vegetable sub- 
stance, a work which is daily executed by our own stomach and 
intestines, and by those of other animals. Keaumur likewise dis- 
covered that all the cells in a hive were not destined for the 
reception of honey and for depositing the eggs of the female, but 
that some of them were employed as receptacles for the farina 
of flowers, a species of food that bees find necessary for the for- 
mation of wax, which is the great basis and raw material of all 
their curious operations.* As a further evidence that the bees 
actually eat the farina of flowers, when the stomach and intes- 
tines are laid open, they are often found to be filled with this 
dust, the grains of which, when examined by the microscope, 
have the exact figure, color, and consistence of farina, taken from 
the anthers of particular flowers. 

After the farina is digested, and converted into wax, the bees 
possess the power of bringing it from their stomachs to their 
mouths. The instrument they employ in furnishing materials for 
constructing their waxen cells is their tongue. This tongue is 
situated below the two teeth or fangs. When at work, the tongue 
may be seen by the assistance of a lens and a glass hive. It is 
then in perpetual motion, and its motions are extremely rapid. 
Its figure continually varies. Sometimes it is more sharp ; at 
others it is flatter ; and sometimes it is more or less concave, and 



# ' Few observers in Natural History are more worthy of entire confidence 
than Reaumur, whose account of the food of bees and the formation of wax 
is given by Mr. Smellie in the text. Still, the accuracy of his observations 
has been called in question by subsequent writers, especially by Huber. 
According to him, there are two kinds of neuters, — nurse-bees and wax-makers. 
The nurse-bees feed and take care of the young grubs, and perform some other 
offices in the hive. The wax-workers are rather larger than the nurse-bees. 
Wax is secreted from honey, and, when wax is wanted in the hive, the wax- 
makers gorge themselves with it, and then remain in a state of entire rest for 
several hours, sometimes for twenty-four, till the wax appears in scales between 
the rings of the abdomen. Farina is swallowed by the nurse-bees, and then 
formed into a kind of paste, with which they feed the grubs. 

4 The food of bees is always honey, the sweet juice of fruits, or some 
other kind of saccharine matter. The workers feed the nurse-bees, and they 
also lay up a store of honey for future use. Farina is also laid up in the 
same wav.' 



296 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

partly covered with a moist paste or wax. By the different move- 
ments of its tongue, the bee continues to supply fresh wax to the 
two teeth, which are employed in raising and fashioning the walls 
of its cell, till they have acquired a sufficient height. As soon 
as the moist paste or wax dries, which it does almost instantane- 
ously, it then assumes all the appearances and qualities of common 
wax. There is a' still stronger proof that wax is the result of an 
animal process. When bees are removed into a new hive, and 
closely confined from the morning to the evening, if the hive 
chances to please them, in the course of this day several waxen 
cells will be formed, without the possibility of a single bee's 
having had access to the fields. Besides, the rude materials, or 
the farina of plants carried into the hive, are of various colors. 
The farina of some plants employed by the bees is whitish ; in 
others, it is of a fine yellow color ; in others, it is almost entirely 
red ; and in others, it is green. The combs constructed with 
these differently colored materials are, however, uniformly of the 
same color. Every comb, especially when it is newly made, is of 
a pure white color, which is more or less tarnished by age, by the 
operation of the air, or by other accidental circumstances. To 
bleach wax, therefore, requires only the art of extracting such 
foreign bodies as may have insinuated themselves into its sub- 
stance, and changed its original color. 

Bees, from the nature of their constitution, require a warm 
habitation. They are likewise extremely solicitous to prevent 
insects of any kind from getting admittance into their hives. To 
accomplish both these purposes, when they take possession of a 
new hive, they carefully examine every part of it ; and, if they 
discover any small holes or chinks, they immediately paste them 
firmly up with a resinous substance, which differs considerably 
from wax. This substance was not unknown to the ancients. 
Pliny mentions it under the name of propolis, or bee-glue. Bees 
use the propolis for rendering their hives more close and perfect, 
in preference to wax, because the former is more durable, and 
more powerfully resists the vicissitudes of weather, than the 
latter. This glue is not, like wax, procured by an animal pro- 
cess. The bees collect it from different trees, as the poplars, the 
birches, and the willows. After a bee has procured a quantity 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 297 

sufficient to fill the cavities in its two hind thighs, it repairs to the 
hive. Two of its companions instantly draw out the propolis, 
and apply it to fill up such chinks, holes, or other deficiencies, as 
they find in their habitation. But this is not the only use to 
which bees apply the propolis. They are extremely solicitous 
to remove such insects or foreign bodies as happen to get admis- 
sion into the hive. When so light as not to exceed their powers, 
they first kill the insect with their stings, and then drag it out 
with their teeth. But it sometimes happens that an ill-fated snail 
creeps into the hive. It is no sooner perceived, than it is at- 
tacked on all sides, and stung to death. But how are the bees to 
carry out a burden of such weight? This labor they know 
would be in vain. They are, perhaps, apprehensive that a body 
so large would diffuse, in the course of its putrefaction, a disagree- 
able or noxious odor through the hive. To prevent such hurtful 
consequences, immediately after the animal's death they embalm 
it by covering every part of its body with propolis, through 
which no effluvia can escape. When a snail with a shell gets 
entrance, to dispose of it gives much less trouble and expense to 
the bees. As soon as this kind of snail receives the first wound 
from a sting, it - naturally retires within its shell. In this case, 
the bees, instead of pasting it all over with propolis, content 
themselves with gluing all round the margin of the shell, which 
is sufficient to render the animal for ever immovably fixed. 

But propolis and the materials for making wax are not the 
only substances these industrious animals have to collect. As 
formerly remarked, beside the whole winter there are many days 
in which the bees are prevented by the weather from going 
abroad in quest of provisions. They are, therefore, under the 
necessity of collecting, and laying up in cells destined for that 
purpose, large quantities of honey. This sweet and balsamic 
liquor they extract, by means of their proboscis or trunk, from 
the nectariferous glands of flowers. The trunk of a bee is a 
kind of rough cartilaginous tongue. After collecting a small 
quantity of honey, the animal with its proboscis conveys it to its 
mouth, and swallows it. From the oesophagus, or gullet, it 
passes into the first stomach, which is more or less swelled in pro- 
portion to the quantity of honey it contains. When empty, it has 
13* 



298 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

the appearance of a fine, white -thread ; but, when filled with 
honey, it assumes the figure of an oblong bladder, the membrane 
of which is so thin and transparent that it allows the color of the 
liquor it contains to be distinctly seen. This bladder is well 
known to children who live in the country. They cruelly amuse 
themselves with catching bees, and tearing them asunder, in order 
to suck the honey. A single flower furnishes but a small quan- 
tity of honey. The bees are therefore obliged to fly from one 
flower to another till they fill their first stomachs. When they 
have accomplished this purpose, they return directly to the hive, 
and disgorge in a cell the whole of the honey they have collected. 
It not unfrequently happens, however, that, when on its way to the 
hive, it is accosted by a hungry companion. How the one can 
communicate its necessity to the other, it is perhaps impossible to 
discover. But the fact is certain, that, when two bees meet in 
this situation, they mutually stop, and the one whose stomach is 
full of honey extends its trunk, opens its mouth, which lies a 
little beyond the teeth, and, like ruminating animals, forces up the 
honey into that cavity. The hungry bee knows how to take 
advantage of this hospitable invitation. With the point of its 
trunk it sucks the honey from the other's mouth. When not 
stopped on the road, the bee proceeds to the hive, and in the 
same manner offers its honey to those who are at work, as if it 
meant to prevent the necessity of quitting their labor in order to 
go in quest of food. In bad weather, the bees feed upon the 
honey laid up in open cells ; but they never touch these reser- 
voirs when their companions are enabled to supply them with 
fresh honey from the fields. But the mouths of those cells which 
are destined for preserving honey during winter, they always 
cover with a lid or thin plate of wax. 

Wasps, like bees, associate in great numbers, and construct; 
with much dexterity and skill, a common habitation. Their 
architecture, like that of the honey-bee, is singular and worthy 
of admiration ; but the materials employed furnish neither honey 
nor wax. Impelled by an instinctive love of posterity, they, 
with great labor, skill, and assiduity, construct combs, which are 
likewise composed of hexagonal or six-sided cells. Though these 
cells are not made of wax, they are equally proper for the re- 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 299 

. ception of eggs, and for affording convenient habitations to the 
worms which proceed from them, till their transformation into 
wasps. 

In general, the cells of the wasps are formed of a kind of 
paper, which, with great dexterity, is fabricated by the animals 
themselves. The number of combs and cells in a wasps' nest is 
always proportioned to the number of individuals associated. 
Different species choose different situations for building their 
nests. Some expose their habitations to all the injuries of the 
air ; others prefer the trunks of decayed trees ; and others, as 
the common kind, of which we are principally treating, conceal 
their nests under ground. The hole which leads to a wasps' nest 
is about an inch in diameter. This hole is a kind of gallery 
mined by the wasps, is seldom in a straight line, and varies in 
length from half a foot to two feet, according to the distance of 
the nest from the surface of the ground. When exposed to view, 
the whole nest appears to be of a roundish forim and sometimes 
about twelve or fourteen inches in diameter. It is strongly 
fortified all round with walls or layers of paper, the surface of 
which is rough and irregular. In these walls, or rather in this 
external covering, two holes are left for passages to the combs. 
The wasps uniformly enter the nest by one hole, and go out by 
the other, which prevents any confusion or interruption to their 
common labors. 

Upon removing the external covering, we perceive that the 
whole interior part consists of several stories or floors of combs, 
which are parallel to each other, and nearly in a horizontal posi- 
tion. Every story is composed of a numerous assemblage of 
hexagonal cells, very regularly constructed with a matter re- 
sembling ash-colored paper. These cells contain neither wax 
nor honey, but are solely destined for containing the eggs, the 
worms which are hatched from them, the nymphs, and the young- 
wasps till they are able to fly. Wasps' nests are not always 
composed of an equal number of combs. They sometimes con- 
sist of fifteen, and sometimes of eleven only. The combs are of 
various diameters. The first, or uppermost, is often only two 
inches in diameter, while those of the middle sometimes exceed a 
foot. The lowest are also much smaller than the middle ones. 



300 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

All these combs, like so many floors or stories ranged in a paral- 
lel manner above each other, afford lodging to prodigious num- 
bers of inhabitants. Reaumur computed, from the number of 
cells in a given portion of comb, that, in a medium-sized nest, 
there were at least ten thousand cells. This calculation gives an 
idea of the astonishingly prolific powers of these insects, and the 
vast numbers of individuals produced in a single season from one 
nest ; for every cell serves as a lodging to no less than three 
generations. Hence a moderately-sized nest gives birth annu- 
ally to thirty thousand young wasps. 

The different stories of combs are always about half an inch 
high, which leaves free passages to the wasps from one part of 
the nest to another. These intervals are so spacious, that, in 
proportion to the bulk of the animals, they may be compared to 
great halls or broad streets. Each of the larger combs is sup- 
ported by about fifty pillars, which, at the same time, give solidity 
to the fabric, and greatly ornament the whole nest. The lesser 
combs are supported by the same ingenious contrivance. These 
pillars are coarse, and of a roundish form. Their bases and 
capitals, however, are much larger in diameter than the middle. 
By the one end they are attached to the superior comb, and by 
the other to the inferior. Thus between two combs there is 
always a species of rustic colonnade. The wasps begin at the 
top, and build downward. The uppermost and smallest comb is 
first constructed. It is attached to the superior part of the ex- 
ternal covering. The second comb is fixed to the bottom of the 
first; and in this manner the animals proceed till the whole 
operation is completed. The connecting pillars are composed of 
the same kind of paper as the rest of the nest. To allow the 
wasp entries into the void spaces, roads are left between the 
combs and the external envelope or covering. 

A general idea of this curious edifice having been given, it is 
next natural to inquire how the wasps build, and how they employ 
themselves in their abodes. But as all these mysteries are 
performed under cover, it required much industry and attention 
to discover them. By the ingenuity and perseverance of M. de 
Reaumur, however, we are enabled to explain some parts of their 
internal economy and manners. This indefatigable naturalist 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 301 

contrived to make wasps, like the honey-bees, lodge and work in 
glass hives. In this operation he was greatly assisted by the ar- 
dent affection which these animals have to their offspring ; for he 
found, that, though the nest was cut in different directions, and 
though it was exposed to the light, the wasps never deserted it, 
nor relaxed in their attention to their young. 

Immediately after a wasp's nest has been transported from its 
natural situation, and covered with a glass hive, the first opera- 
tion of the insects is to repair the injuries it has suffered. With 
wonderful activity they carry off all the earth and foreign bodies 
that may have accidentally been conveyed into the hive. Some 
of them occupy themselves in fixing the nest to the top and sides 
of the hive by pillars of paper, similar to those which support 
the different stories or strata of combs ; others repair the breaches 
it has sustained ; and others fortify it by augmenting considerably 
the thickness of its external cover. This external envelope is 
an operation peculiar to wasps. Its construction requires great 
labor ; for it frequently exceeds an inch and a half in thickness, 
and is composed of a number of strata or layers as thin as pa- 
per, between each of which there is a void space. This cover 
is a kind of box for inclosing the combs, and defending them 
from the rain which might otherwise penetrate them. For 
this purpose it is admirably adapted. If it were one solid mass, 
the contact of water would penetrate the whole and reach the 
combs. But to prevent this fatal effect, the animals leave con- 
siderable vacuities between the vaulted layers, which are gen- 
erally fifteen or sixteen in number. By this ingenious piece of 
architecture, one or two layers may be moistened with water, 
while the others are not in the least affected. 

The materials employed by wasps in the construction of their 
nests are very different from those made use of by the honey- 
bee. Instead of collecting the farina of flowers, and digesting it 
into wax, the wasps gnaw with their two fangs, which are strong 
and serrated, small fibres of wood from the sashes of windows, 
the posts of espaliers, garden doors, &c, but never attempt grow- 
ing or green timber. These fibres, though very slender, are often 
a line, or a twelfth part of an inch long. After cutting a certain 
number of them, the animals collect them into minute bundles, 



302 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

transport them to their nest, and, by means of a glutinous sub- 
stance furnished from their own bodies, form them into a moist 
and ductile paste. Of this substance, or papier mache, they con- 
struct the external cover, the partitions of the nest, the hexagonal 
cells, and the solid columns which support the several layers or 
stories of combs. 

The constructing of the nest occupies a comparatively small 
number of laborers. The others are differently employed. Here 
it is necessary to remark, that the republics of wasps, like those 
of the honey-bees, consist of three kinds of flies, males, females, 
and neuters. Like the bees, also, the number of neuters far sur- 
passes that of both males and females. The greatest quantity 
of labor is devolved upon the neuters ; but they are not, like 
the neuter bees, the only workers ; for there is no part of their 
operations which the females, at certain times, do not execute. 
Neither do the males, though their industry is not comparable to 
that of the neuters, remain entirely idle. They often occupy 
themselves in the interior part of the nest. The greatest part of 
the labor, however, is performed by the neuters. They build the 
nest, feed the males, the females, and even the young. But while 
some of the neuters are employed in these different operations, the 
others are abroad in hunting parties. Some attack with intre- 
pidity live insects, which they sometimes carry entire to the nest ; 
but they generally transport the abdomen or belly only. Others 
pillage butchers' stalls, from which they often arrive with a piece 
of meat larger than the half of their own bodies. Others resort 
to gardens, and suck the juices of fruits. When they return to 
the nest, they distribute a part of their plunder to the females, to 
the males, and even to such neuters as have been usefully occu- 
pied at home. As soon as a neuter enters the nest, it is sur- 
rounded by several wasps, to each of whom it freely gives a 
portion of the food it has brought. Those who have not been 
hunting for prey, but have been sucking the juices of fruits, 
though they seem to return empty, fail not to regale their com- 
panions ; for, after their arrival, they station themselves upon the 
upper part of the nest, and discharge from their mouths two or 
three drops of a clear liquid, which are immediately swallowed 
by the domestics. 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 303 

The neuter wasps, though the most laborious, are the smallest ; 
but they are extremely active and vivacious. The females are 
much larger, heavier, and slower in their movements. The males 
are of an intermediate size between that of the females and 
that of the neuters. From these differences in size, it is easy 
to distinguish the different kinds of those wasps which build 
their nests below the ground. In the hive of the honey-bee, 
the number of females is always extremely small ; but in a 
wasps' nest there are often more than three hundred females. 
During the months of June, July, and August, they remain 
constantly in the nest, and are never seen abroad except in 
the beginning of spring, and in the months of September and 
October. During the summer, they are totally occupied in 
laying their eggs and feeding their young. In this last oper- 
ation, they are assisted by the other wasps ; for the females 
alone, though numerous, would be insufficient for the laborious 
task. The eggs are white, transparent, of an oblong figure, 
and differ in size according to the kind of wasps which are 
to proceed from them. Some of them are no larger than the 
head of a small pin. They are so firmly glued to the bottoms 
of the cells, that it is with difficulty they can be detached with- 
out breaking. Eight days after the eggs are deposited in the 
cells, the worms are hatched, and are considerably larger than 
the eggs which gave birth to them. These worms demand the 
principal cares of the wasps who continue always in the nest. 
They feed them, as birds feed their young, by giving them, from 
time to time, a mouthful of food. It is astonishing to see with 
what industry and rapidity a female runs along the cells of a 
comb, and distributes to each worm a portion of nutriment. In 
proportion to the ages and conditions of the worms, they are fed 
with solid food, such as the bellies of insects, or with a liquid 
substance disgorged by the mother. When a worm is so large 
as to occupy its whole cell, it is then ready to be metamorphosed 
into a nymph. It then refuses all nourishment, and ceases to 
have any connection with the wasps in the nest. It shuts up the 
mouth of its cell with a fine silken cover, in the same manner as 
the silkworm and other caterpillars spin their cods. This opera- 
tion is completed in three or four hours, and the animal remains 



304 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

in the nymph state nine or ten days, when, with its teeth, it de- 
stroys the external cover of the cell, and comes forth in the form 
of a winged insect. In a short time, the wasps newly trans- 
formed receive the food brought into the nest by the foragers in 
the fields. What is still more curious, in the course of the first 
day after their transformation, the young wasps have been ob- 
served going to the fields, bringing in provisions, and distributing 
them to the worms in the cells. A cell is no sooner abandoned 
by a young wasp, than it is cleaned, trimmed, and repaired by an 
old one, and rendered, in every respect, proper for the reception 
of another egg. 

This wonderful assemblage of combs, of the pillars which sup- 
port them, and of the external envelope, is an edifice which 
requires several months' labor, and serves the animals one year 
only. This habitation, so populous in summer, is almost deserted 
in winter, and abandoned entirely in spring ; for, in this last sea- 
son, not a single wasp is to be found in a nest of the preceding 
year. It is worthy of remark, that the first combs of a nest are 
always accommodated for the reception of the neuter, or working, 
wasps. The city, of which the foundation has just been laid, re- 
quires a number of workmen. The neuter, or working, wasps 
are accordingly first produced. A cell is no sooner half com- 
pleted, than an egg of a neuter is deposited in it by the female. 
Of fourteen or fifteen combs inclosed in a common cover, the 
last four only are destined for the reception of males and females. 
Hence it uniformly happens, that, before the males and females 
are capable of taking flight, every wasp's nest is peopled with 
several thousand neuters, or workers. But the neuters, who are 
first produced, are likewise the first that perish ; for not one of 
them survives the termination even of a mild winter. 

The female wasps are stronger, and support the rigors of win- 
ter better than the males or neuters. Before the end of winter, 
however, several hundred females die, and not above ten or a 
dozen in each nest survive that season. These few females are 
destined for the continuation of the species. Each of them 
becomes the founder of a new republic. When a queen bee 
departs from a hive, in order to establish a new one, she is 
always accompanied with several thousand industrious laborers, 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 305 

ready to perform every necessary operation. But the female 
wasp has not the aid of a single laborer ; for all the neuters are 
dead before the beginning of the spring. The female alone lays 
the foundation of a new republic. She either finds or digs a hole 
under the earth, builds cells for the reception of her eggs, and 
feeds the worms which proceed from them. Whenever any of 
these neuter worms are transformed into flies, they immediately 
assist their parent in augmenting the number of cells and combs, 
and in feeding the young worms which are daily hatching from 
the eggs. In a word, this female wasp, which in spring was 
perfectly solitary, without any proper habitation, and had every 
operation to perform, has, in autumn, several thousands of her 
offspring at her devotion, and is furnished with a magnificent 
palace, or rather city, to protect her from the injuries of the 
weather and from external enemies. 

With regard to the male wasps, it is uncertain whether any of 
them survive the winter. But, though not so indolent as the 
males of the honey-bee, they can be of little assistance to the 
female ; for they never engage in any work of importance, such 
as constructing cells, or fortifying the external cover of the nest. 
They are never brought forth till towards the end of August ; 
and their sole occupation seems to be that of keeping the nest 
clean. They carry out every kind of filth, and the carcasses of 
such of their companions as happen to die. In performing this 
operation, two pf them often join ; and, when the load is too heavy, 
they cut off the head, and transport the dead animal at two dif- 
ferent times. 

The males and females are produced at the same time, and 
they are nearly equal in number. Like the male honey-bees, 
the male wasps are destitute of stings ; but the females and 
neuters have stings, the poisonous liquor of which, when intro- 
duced into any part of the human body, excites inflammation, and 
creates a considerable degree of pain. 

' The habitations and economy of the various species of Ants 
are equally curious with those which have been described. There 
are, as with the wasps and bees, individuals of three sorts ; males 
and females, which have wings, and neuters, which are without 
them. The former desert the habitations in which they have 



306 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

been reared, as soon as they have undergone the last metamor- 
phosis, and seldom revisit them. They live principally in the 
air, like other insects, forming numerous swarms. The females, 
as soon as they are ready to deposit their eggs, wander from their 
place of birth, deprive themselves of their wings by means of 
their feet, and found a new establishment, whilst the males, 
having become entirely useless, all perish. A few of the fe- 
males are seized by the neuters, confined in the original habita- 
tion, deprived of their wings, and obliged to lay their eggs there, 
and are then driven out to perish. 

6 The neuters are distinguished not only by the want of wings, 
but by the size of their head, the strength of their jaws, and the 
length of their feet. They have charge of the principal part of 
the labor of preparing for the reception and nourishment of the 
young. The nests of ants differ very much in different species. 
They are generally made in the earth. Some merely dig out 
the sand and form holes running in different directions, so that 
the habitation is almost entirely subterraneous. Others gather 
together particles of many different kinds, and raise mounds of 
considerable size above the surface of the earth in the form of 
domes. Others choose for their residence the trunks of old trees, 
the interior of which they pierce with holes passing in every di- 
rection. All the passages or galleries of which these habitations 
consist, terminate in an apartment designed for the reception of the 
young. 

' The food of ants consists of fruit, insects and their larvae, and 
the bodies of small quadrupeds and birds. The neuters, which 
are the providers for the whole establishment, are principally 
governed in their researches by the senses of touch and smell. 
With the fruits of their labors they feed the larvae while in a 
helpless state. In warm weather they drag them up for the 
benefit of the heat to % the outside of their holes, and, at the ap- 
proach of night or of bad weather, convey them back again into 
the recesses of their habitations. In short, all their labor and 
care are directed with a view to the accommodation and preser- 
vation of an offspring in which they really have no share. They 
defend them against the attack of all enemies, and risk for them 
their safety and their lives ; and, after watching them with unre- 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 307 

mitting assiduity until they have arrived at the perfect state, they 
will not then suffer them to leave the nest unless the weather 
be fine and propitious, when they permit them to take their de- 
parture. 

1 The male and female ants perish at the approach of winter, 
but the neuters survive it, and pass the cold months in a dormant 
state in the recesses of their habitations. Their forethought and 
providence, then, in the provision of food, has not for its object 
their own support, but that of the young ; and, in preparing for 
the winter, they have merely to render their habitations tight 
and secure against the cold.' 

The habitations and operations of the Termites, a species of 
insects frequently called white ants, although of a different genus, 
and even a different order, from the common ants, are well worthy 
of attention. They infest Guinea, and all the tropical regions, 
where, for their depredations upon property, they are greatly 
dreaded by the inhabitants. 

Of these insects there are several species ; but they all re- 
semble each other in form, and in their manner of living. They 
differ, however, as much as birds, in the style of their architec- 
ture, and in the selection of the materials of which their nests 
are composed. Some build on the surface, or partly above and 
partly below the ground, and others on the trunks or branches 
of lofty trees.- 

Before describing the nests or hills, it is necessary to give some 
idea of the animals themselves, and of their general economy and 
manners. We shall confine ourselves to that species called termites 
bellicosi, or fighters, because they are the largest and best known. 

The republic of the termites bellicosi, like those of the other 
species of this genus, consists of three ranks or orders of insects ; 
1. The working insects, which have been distinguished by the 
name of laborers; 2. The fighters or soldiers, which perform 
no kind of labor ; and, 3. The winged or perfect insects, which 
are male and female. These last have been called the nobility 
or gentry, because they neither labor nor fight. The nobility 
alone are capable of being raised to the rank of kings and 
queens. A few weeks after their elevation to this state, they 
emigrate, in order to establish new empires. 



308 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

In a nest or hill, the laborers, or working insects, are always 
most numerous. There are at least one hundred laborers to one 
of the fighting insects or soldiers. When in this state, they are 
about a fourth of an inch in length, which is rather smaller than 
some of our ants. From their figure and fondness for wood, they 
are very generally known by the name of wood-lice. 

The second order, or soldiers, differ in figure from that of the 
laborers. The former have been supposed to be neuters, and 
the latter males. But, in fact, they are the same insects. They 
have only undergone a change of form, and made a nearer 
approach to the perfect state. They are now much larger, being 
half an inch in length, and equal in size to fifteen of the laborers. 
The form of the head is likewise greatly changed. In the laborer 
state, the mouth is evidently formed for gnawing or holding 
bodies ; but in the soldier state, the jaws, being shaped like two 
sharp awls a little jagged, are destined solely for piercing or 
wounding. For these purposes they are very well calculated ; 
for they are as hard as a crab's claw, and placed in a strong, 
horny head, which is of a nutbrown color, and larger than the 
whole body. 

The figure of the third order, or that of the insect in its per- 
fect state, is still more changed. The head, the thorax, and the 
abdomen, differ almost entirely from the same parts in the 
laborers and the soldiers. Beside, the animals are now furnished 
with four large, brownish, transparent wings, by which they are 
enabled, at the proper season, to emigrate and to establish new 
settlements. In the winged or perfect state they are greatly 
altered in their size as well as in their figure. Their bodies now 
measure between six and seven tenths of an inch, their wings, 
from tip to tip, above two inches and a half, and their bulk is 
equal to that of thirty laborers, or two soldiers. Instead of 
active, industrious, and rapacious little animals, when they arrive 
at their perfect state, they become innocent, helpless, and das- 
tardly. Their numbers are great ; but their enemies are still 
more numerous. They are devoured by birds, by every species 
of ants, by carnivorous reptiles, and even by the inhabitants of 
many parts of Africa. 

Of those that escape, some are seized upon by the laboring 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 309 

insects, and are made the founders of new states. They are 
immediately inclosed in a chamber suitable to their size. Thi3 
is built around them, and has an entrance too small for them to 
go out, but large enough for the laborers to pass in and out. It 
was the opinion of former observers, that both males and females 
were thus preserved ; but the analogy of other insects renders it 
probable that it is females alone. At any rate, there soon takes 
place a most extraordinary change in the female or queen.' Her 
abdomen is gradually extended and enlarged to a most enormous 
size ; so that in an old queen it has been found to have increased 
to one thousand five hundred or two thousand times the bulk of the 
rest of the body, and twenty or thirty thousand times the bulk of 
a common laborer. The skin extends in every direction, so that 
the abdomen, which is not originally more than half an inch in 
length, has at last each of its segments removed to that dis- 
tance from each other. When the animal is two years old, the 
abdomen has increased to three inches in length, and it has 
sometimes been found of twice that size. This is now full of 
eggs, contained in a vast number of very minute and convoluted 
vessels, which, moving in a serpentine manner, cause an undulat- 
ing appearance without, like that of the peristaltic motion of the 
intestines. -By means of this motion, the eggs are protruded in 
almost incredible numbers, to the amount, as has been pretty ac- 
curately calculated, of eighty thousand or upward in twenty-four 
hours. 

The eggs are instantly taken care of by the laborers, and 
placed in proper depositories or nurseries, where they are 
hatched. The young are then attended, and provided with 
every thing necessary until they are able to shift for themselves, 
and take their share in the labors of the community. 

The nests of the termites bellicosi, or wood-lice, are called hills 
by the natives of Africa, Australia, and other hot climates. 
This appellation is highly proper ; for they are often elevated ten 
or twelve feet above the surface of the earth, and are nearly of a 
conical figure. These hills, instead of being rare phenomena, are 
so frequent in many places near Senegal, that, as described with 
great propriety by M. Adanson, their number, magnitude, and 
closeness of situation, make them appear like villages of the 



310 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

negroes. " Of all the extraordinary things I observed ," says 
M. Adanson, in his voyage to Senegal, " nothing struck me 
more than certain eminences, which, by their height and regu- 
larity, made me take them, at a distance, for an assemblage of 
negro huts, or a considerable village, and yet they were only the 
nests of certain insects. These nests are round pyramids, from 
eight to ten feet high, upon nearly the same base, with a smooth 
surface of rich clay, excessively hard and well built." 

Each of these hills is composed of an exterior and an interior 
part. The exterior cover is a large clay shell, which is shaped 
like a dome. Its strength and magnitude are sufficient to inclose 
and protect the interior building from the injuries of the weather, 
and to defend its numerous inhabitants from the attacks of 
natural or accidental enemies. The external dome or cover is, 
therefore, always much stronger than the internal building, which 
is the habitation of the insects, and is divided with wonderful 
artifice and regularity into a vast number of apartments for the 
residence and accommodation of the king and queen, for the 
nursing of their progeny, and for magazines, which are always 
well stored with provisions. 

These hills make their first appearance in the form of conical 
turrets, about a foot high. In a short time, the insects erect, at 
a little distance, other turrets, and go on increasing their number 
and widening their basis till their under works are covered with 
these turrets, which the animals always raise highest in the 
middle of the hill, and, by filling up the intervals between them, 
collect them at last into one great dome. 

The royal chamber appears to be, in the opinion of this little 
people, of the most consequence, and is always situated as near 
the centre of the interior building as possible, and generally 
about the height of the common' surface of the ground. It is 
always nearly in the shape of half an egg, or an obtuse oval, 
within, and may be supposed to represent a long oven. In the 
infant state of the colony, it is not above an inch, or thereabouts, 
in length ; but, in time, will be increased to six or eight inches, 
or more, in the clear, being always in proportion to the size of 
the queen, who, increasing in bulk as in age, at length requires a 
chamber of such dimensions. 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 311 

The royal chamber is surrounded by an innumerable quantity 
of others, which are of different sizes, figures, and dimensions ; 
but all of them are arched in either a circular or an elliptical 
form. These chambers enter into each other, or have com- 
municating passages, which, being always clear, are evidently 
intended for the conveniency of the soldiers and attendants, of 
whom, as will soon appear, great numbers are necessary. These 
apartments are joined by the magazines and nurseries. The 
magazines are chambers of clay, and are at all times well stored 
with provisions, which, to the naked eye, seem to consist of the 
raspings of wood and plants which the termites destroy ; but, 
when examined by the microscope, they are found to consist 
chiefly of the gums or inspissated juices of plants, thrown to- 
gether in small irregular masses. 

The magazines are always intermixed with the nurseries, 
which last are buildings totally different from the rest of the 
apartments. They are composed entirely of wooden materials, 
which seem to be cemented with gums. They are invariably 
occupied by the eggs, and the young ones, which first appear in the 
shape of laborers ; but then they are as white as snow. These 
buildings are exceedingly compact, and are divided into a number 
of small, irregularly-shaped chambers, not one of which is half 
an inch wide. 

When a nest or hillock is in the infant state, the nurseries are 
close to the royal apartment. But as, in process of time, the 
body of the queen enlarges, it becomes necessary, for her ac- 
commodation, to augment the dimensions of her chamber. She 
then, likewise, lays a greater number of eggs, and requires more 
attendants ; of course, it is necessary that both the number and 
dimensions of the adjacent apartments should be augmented. 
For this purpose, the small, first -built nurseries are taken to 
pieces, rebuilt a little farther off, and made a size larger ; and their 
number, at the same time, is increased. Thus the animals are 
continually employed in pulling down, repairing, or rebuilding 
their apartments ; and these operations they perform with won- 
derful sagacity, regularity, and foresight. 

The royal chamber is situated nearly on a level with the sur- 
face of the ground, at an equal distance from all the sides of the 



312 HABITATIONS OF AXIMAL'S. 

building, and directly under the apex of the hill. On all sides, 
both above and below, it is surrounded by what are called the 
royal apartments, which contain only laborers and soldiers, who 
can be intended for no other purpose than to continue in the nest 
either to guard or serve their common parents, on whose safety 
the happiness, and, in the estimation of the negroes, the exist- 
ence of the whole community depends. These apartments com- 
pose an intricate labyrinth, which extends a foot or more in 
diameter from the royal chamber on every side. Here the nur- 
series and magazines of provisions begin ; and, being separated 
by small empty chambers and galleries, which surround them, 
and communicate with each other, are continued on all sides to 
the outward shell, and reach up within it two thirds or three 
fourths of its height, leaving an open area in the middle under 
the dome, which resembles the nave of an old cathedral. This 
area is surrounded by large Gothic arches, which are sometimes 
two or three feet high next the front of the area, but diminish 
rapidly as they recede, like the arches of aisles in perspective, 
and are soon lost among the inumerable chambers and nurseries 
behind them. All these chambers and passages are arched, and 
contribute mutually to support one another. The interior build- 
ing, or assemblage of nurseries, chambers, and passages, has a 
flattish roof, without any perforation. By this contrivance, if by 
accident water should penetrate the external dome, the apart- 
ments below are preserved from injury. The area has also a 
flattish floor, which is situated above the royal chamber. It is 
likewise water-proof, and so constructed, that if water gets 
admittance it runs off by subterraneous passages, which are of 
an astonishing magnitude. " I measured one of them," says Mr. 
Smeathman, " which was perfectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches 
in diameter." These subterraneous passages are thickly lined 
with the same kind of clay as that of which the hill is composed, 
ascend the internal part of the external shell in a spiral form, 
and, winding round the whole building up to the top, intersect 
and communicate with each other at different heights. From 
every part of these large galleries proceed a number of pipes, 
or smaller galleries, leading to different parts of the building. 
There are, likewise, a great many which lead downward, by 



HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 313 

sloping descents, three and four feet perpendicular under ground, 
among the gravel, from which the laboring termites select the 
finer parts, which, after being worked up in their mouths to the 
consistence of mortar, become that solid clay or stone of which 
their hills, and every apartment of their buildings, except the 
nurseries, are composed. Other galleries ascend and lead out 
horizontally on every side, and are carried under ground, but near 
the surface, to great distances. Suppose the whole of the nests 
within a hundred yards of a house were completely destroyed, 
the inhabitants of those at a greater distance will carry on their 
subterraneous galleries, and invade the goods and merchandise 
contained in it by sap and mine, unless great attention and cir- 
cumspection are employed by the proprietor. 

When a breach is made in one of the hills, the first object that 
attracts attention is the behavior of the soldiers, or fighting in- 
sects. Immediately after the blow is given, a soldier comes out, 
walks about the breach, and seems to examine the nature of the 
enemy, or the cause of the attack. He then goes into the hill, 
gives the alarm, and, in a short time, large bodies rush out as 
fast as the breach will permit. It is not easy to describe the 
fury these fighting insects discover. In their eagerness to repel 
the enemy, they frequently tumble down the sides of the hill, but 
recover themselves very quickly, and bite everything they en- 
counter. This biting, joined to the striking of their forceps upon 
the building, makes a crackling or vibrating noise, which is some- 
what shriljer and quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may 
be heard at the distance of three or four feet. While the attack 
proceeds, they are in the most violent bustle and agitation. If 
they get hold of any part of a man's body, they instantly make 
their hooked jaws meet at the first stroke, and never quit their 
hold, but suffer themselves to be pulled away leg by leg, and 
piece after piece, without the smallest attempt to escape. On 
the other hand, if a person keeps out of their reach, and gives 
them no further disturbance, in less than half an hour they retire 
into the nest, as if they supposed the wonderful monster that 
damaged their castle had fled. Before the whole of the soldiers 
have got in, the laboring insects are all in motion, and hasten 
toward the breach, each of them having a quantity of tempered 
14 



314 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 

mortar in his mouth. This mortar they stick upon the breach as 
fast as they arrive, and perform the operation with so much 
despatch and facility, that, notwithstanding the immensity of 
their numbers, they never stop or embarrass one another. Dur- 
ing this scene of apparent hurry and confusion, the spectator is 
agreeably surprised when he perceives a regular wall gradually 
arising and filling up the chasm. While the laborers are thus 
employed, almost all the soldiers remain within, except here and 
there one, who saunters about among six hundred or a thousand 
laborers, but never touches the mortar. One soldier, however, 
always takes his station close to the wall that the laborers are 
building. This soldier turns himself leisurely on all sides, and, 
at intervals of a minute or two, raises his head, beats upon the 
building with his forceps, and makes the vibrating noise formerly 
mentioned. A loud hiss instantly issues from the inside of the 
dome and all the subterraneous caverns and passages. That 
this hiss proceeds from the laborers is apparent; for, at every 
signal of this kind, they work with redoubled quickness and 
alacrity. A renewal of the attack, however, instantly changes the 
scene. On the first stroke, the laborers run into the many pipes 
and galleries, with which the building is perforated ; and this 
they do so quickly that they seem to vanish ; for in a few seconds 
all are gone, and the soldiers rush out as numerous and as vindic- 
tive as before. On finding no enemy, they return again leisurely 
into the hill ; and very soon afterward the laborers appear, loaded 
as at first, as active and as sedulous, with soldiers here and there 
among them, who act just in the same manner, one or other of 
them giving the signal to "hasten the business. Thus the pleasure 
of seeing them come out to fight or to work, alternately, may be 
obtained as often as curiosity excites, or time permits ; and it 
will certainly be found, that the one order never attempts to 
fight, nor the other to work, let the emergency be ever so great. 
It is exceedingly difficult to explore the interior parts of a nest 
or hill. The apartments which surround the royal chamber and 
the nurseries, and, indeed, the whole fabric, have such a depend- 
ence on each other, that the breaking of one arch generally pulls 
down two or three. There is another great obstacle, namely, 
the obstinacy of the soldiers, who dispute every inch of ground, 



RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 315 

and fight to the very last, wounding severely those who are en- 
gaged in the attempt, and sometimes obliging them to desist. 
Besides this, while the soldiers are engaged in defending the out- 
w r orks, the laborers are barricading the way within, stopping up 
the different galleries and passages which lead to the various 
apartments, particularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to 
which they fill up so artfully as not to let it be distinguishable 
while it remains moist ; and externally it has no other appear- 
ance than that of a shapeless lump of clay. It may be known, 
however, by its situation, and by the crowd of soldiers and labor- 
ers who assemble around and within it, to defend or perish with 
it. It is never abandoned, and, when taken out, is always found 
full, the attendants running in one direction around the queen 
with the utmost solicitude, some of them stopping at her head, 
as if to give her something, and others taking her eggs away 
from her and piling them carefully together in some part of 
the chamber. 



CHAPTER XII. (W.) 

RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. THEIR EDUCATION AND 

DOMESTICATION. 

It is not easy to determine with certainty what is the original 
feeling excited in animals by the presence of man. Our ordinary 
experience would lead us to believe, that, for the most part, they 
spontaneously fear him ; but there are many circumstances 
which indicate the contrary, and that they have no dread 
of him, more than of each other, till they have become ac- 
quainted with his power and his disposition to destroy them. 
The small and timid fly at his approach, as they do from 
others larger and stronger than themselves. The more formida- 
ble beasts of prey, when stimulated by hunger, attack him. But 
there are some facts which tend to show, that the other large ani- 



316 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

mals neither fear nor molest him ; that they are unmoved by his 
presence, and that this is the natural feeling where his power and 
disposition are unknown. The narratives of travellers afford 
various illustrations of this. Stetter, an early scientific explorer 
of the arctic regions, relates many characteristic traits of the arc- 
tic fox. " When asleep, they came and smelt of our noses to 
ascertain if we were really asleep. On our first arrival they bit 
off the noses, fingers, and toes of our dead, when we were pre- 
paring them for the grave, and thronged in such a manner about 
the sick and infirm, that it was with difficulty they could be kept 
off. Every morning these audacious animals were seen prowling 
about among the sea-lions and polar bears lying upon the strand, 
smelling at such as were asleep, to discover if some one were not 
dead. If so, all hands were at work to dissect it and carry it off. 
It often happens that the sea-lions in their sleep overlay their 
young ; and, as if conscious of this fact, the foxes examined the 
whole herd, one by one, and, when so lucky as to find a dead cub, 
immediately dragged it away. As they would not suffer us to be 
at rest, by night or day, we became exasperated, and harassed 
them by every means we could devise. When we awoke in the 
morning, there always lay two or three that had been knocked on 
the head the preceding night ; and I can safely affirm that, during 
my stay, I killed two hundred of these animals with my own 
hands. On the third day after my arrival, I knocked down with 
a club, within the space of three hours, upwards of seventy of 
them, and made a covering to my tent of their skins. With one 
hand we could hold to them a piece of flesh, and knock them down 
with a stick or an axe in the other." 

The same observer describes similar traits in several species of 
seal. They manifested no disturbance at the presence of man, suf- 
fered him to seize and handle their young, and lay down quietly 
in his neighborhood, apparently watching his proceedings. This 
fearlessness does not arise from any want of courage or spirit. 
Among themselves the fiercest contests are carried on, some- 
times between individuals and sometimes between large herds. 
Stetter witnessed a battle between two of them which lasted three 
days, and until one had received no less than a hundred wounds. 

Among the ferocious beasts of prey that inhabit warmer 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 317 

climates, the same ignorance of the power of man produces the 
same fearlessness, which, however, is exhibited in a different 
way. In the deserts of Africa, the lion, accustomed to conquer 
all other animals, even those superior to him in size and strength, 
has no fear of man, and no antipathy to him. When stimulated 
by hunger, he does not hesitate to approach him, and has been 
known singly to attack a whole caravan. But he has no mere 
thirst for blood. The same ignorance which prompts him at 
one time to attack man without fear, at another induces him to 
pass him unmolested, as he would any other helpless animal of 
the forest. 

In some remote and unfrequented islands, the sea-fowl are so 
tame, that the crews of vessels walk around among them, and 
knock them down with sticks. An intelligent traveller describes 
the same characteristic as existing among some of the larger 
birds of prey. " Upon the highest point of the mountain," 
says he, " while my servants were refreshing themselves, after 
their toilsome ascent, with several dishes of boiled goat's flesh, 
this bird [a species of vulture] suddenly appeared. He did 
not stoop rapidly from a height, but came flying slowly along the 
ground, and sat down close to the meat, within the ring which the 
men had made around it. He stood for a moment as if to recol- 
lect himself, whilst the men ran for their weapons. Them he dis- 
regarded, for his attention was fixed upon the flesh alone. He 
first put his foot into the pan where there was a large piece of 
meat contained in some boiling water. Finding it a more un- 
comfortable sensation than he had expected, he let go the meat, 
and seeing two other pieces, a shoulder and a leg lying near by, 
he trussed them up in his claws, and carried them off. It was not 
many minutes before he came back again ; and, although a great 
shout was set up to frighten him, he seemed not at all intimidated, 
but sat down within a few yards of the boiling meat, seeming in- 
clined to make another attempt upon it. But, the party being 
now prepared for his reception, he was immediately shot." 

How differently is man regarded where animals have been 
taught to feel his power. Upon our shores the seal has none of 
that fearlessness which it exhibits in Behring's Straits. The lion, 
that in the Desert of Sahara bids defiance to numbers, after he 



318 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

has lived for a few generations in the neighborhood of inhabited 
villages, learns to dread the power of man. He loses courage, 
flies from his voice, and sometimes yields even to women and 
children, who drive him from their cattle with clubs. 

Some birds will distinguish between a person armed and one 
unarmed, and take the alarm accordingly. The sentinel of a 
flock of crows utters a warning cry as soon as the sportsman takes 
his gun from his shoulder. Many birds and small animals fly as 
soon as a man stoops down to pick up a stone. In general no fact 
is more familiar than the wildness of animals that live in districts 
frequented by man, although this wildness is accompanied by a 
less degree of courage and ferocity than in districts where he is 
not known. 

A still greater though a different influence is exerted by man 
upon domesticated animals, and upon certain individuals belong- 
ing to species still wild, whom he has taken and educated. There 
is a great difference between the domestication of a species and 
the education of individuals. Some animals have lived with man 
from generation to generation in the domestic state, as the horse, 
the camel, and the ox. Others he has made captive and tamed 
and educated for a long period, and yet they have never become 
properly domesticated ; such are the elephant among quadrupeds 
and the falcon among birds. 

Some of the domesticated animals are not known to exist in 
the wild state except where they may be presumed to have 
escaped from human dominion, as the horse, ox, sheep, and 
camel. It is the belief of many, that these animals were an 
original gift from our Creator, and that we have always had 
them in our possession. There is no record of the period when 
they were subdued to our use. Their services indeed seem to 
have been necessary to the progress of the race. It is by the 
substitution of their labor for that of man, that the first step is 
made in the improvement of his condition. They seem abso- 
lutely necessary to any considerable progress in refinement and 
civilization. Without them, his whole labor would be required 
for the supply of his mere physical necessities ; but, by availing 
himself of theirs, he procures sufficient leisure for higher occupa- 
tions. At the present day, the employment, or, so to speak, the 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 319 

domestication of mere physical agents, wind, water, steam, and 
electricity, seems destined to operate in a similar manner to aid 
his future progress. 

The animals which have thus been subdued to the service of 
man are, in the different regions of the earth, precisely those 
which are adapted to his necessities and convenience in those 
regions. The Laplander has the reindeer, formed to tread with 
ease amid snow and ice, and able to find his support from the 
scanty vegetable productions of his inhospitable climate. In the 
fertile countries of the temperate zone we find the horse, formed 
to move upon the turf and subsist upon grain and the choicest 
herbs ; while in the regions around the equator the camel flourishes 
upon a miserable diet, is able to endure a long abstinence from 
water ancl food, and to travel with comparative ease across deserts 
of sand. Other animals undergo changes in their characteristics 
according to the climate whither they follow their master. The 
dog, his friend as well as servant, changes his form, his character, 
and his constitution as he accompanies him ; whilst the sheep, 
valuable both for its flesh and its fleece, adapts itself to his wants, 
and ceases to be covered with wool in those climates where 
warmth of clothing is no longer needed. 

It seems probable that our domestic animals have all under- 
gone some change in consequence of their intercourse with man. 
When they escape from his dominion and return to the wild state, 
in the course of some generations a manifest deterioration takes 
place in them ; whilst there is a gradual improvement among those 
that remain subjected to his sway. It has been the habit of some 
to represent the wild horse as possessed of a nobler form and 
more generous qualities than the domesticated. This is the poeti- 
cal and romantic side of the matter. Cool and judicious observers, 
on the contrary, represent him, with some exceptions, as far inferior 
to the domestic animal in every particular except hardihood. His 
head is large, his form clumsy, his gait awkward. The varieties 
in the domestic race show how great an influence the circum- 
stances in which the animal is placed may have had upon his 
qualities. Compare for instance the large English dray-horse 
with the diminutive pony ; and the cart-horse with the racer. 

Domesticated animals are sometimes educated, as the horse, the 



320 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

ox, and the dog. Others are not, as the hog, the cat, the rabbit, and 
the common fowl. Long association with man produces certain 
influences upon the habits of animals in a course of generations, 
but this is far short of the education of which they are capable 
when specially cared for, whether domestic or wild. We are all 
familiar with the perfect training which may be given to horses, 
elephants, dogs, and monkeys, and even to goats and pigs. It has 
been reported, that, among the ancients, lions have been yoked to 
triumphal cars, and been conducted to battle or to the chase ; and 
in modern times they have been subdued to a degree of docility 
which seems almost inconsistent with their native ferocity. 

A celebrated French lady trained a number of mice, so that 
she could yoke them to a little chariot, and make them draw it for 
her amusement. A German made the same attempt upon half a 
dozen of the common brown rats. He taught them to go through 
a variety of evolutions at the word of command, and their ex- 
hibition was concluded by a sort of sham-fight among them. 
Seals have been sometimes made very tame and tractable. The 
beaver has been taught to fish and bring home his prey ; to ac- 
company men and dogs in a boat, jump into the water, and 
return with fish in his mouth ; but, in all such cases, the educa- 
tion is confined to the individual, and does not, as in the case of 
the horse, ass, ox, and camel, extend to the race. 

The education of birds has never been carried to the same 
extent as that of quadrupeds, partly because from their confor- 
mation they are not capable of assisting man in his labors, and 
partly because from their inferior capacity they cannot so readily 
be made to comprehend or obey his instructions. Still with due 
perseverance much may be taught them. A bird of South 
America, called the agami, has been taught to caress its master, 
to follow him in the house and the street, and to attack beggars 
and strangers, in the same way with dogs. The crow is a very 
tractable bird, and will learn to know all the members of a family, 
to run to welcome them on their return after absence, and to open 
a door by alighting upon the latch. Mr. Wilson, the ornithologist, 
was informed by a person whose account he trusted, that he 
tamed a crow and kept it for some months. During its captivity 
it became very familiar, was very noisy and loquacious, and 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 321 

could repeat the names of several of the family. At length 
it deserted him and was forgotten. Eleven months afterward, 
while travelling in a distant place, a flock of crows passed over 
him, and one of them, separating itself from the rest, flew down ■ 
and perched upon his shoulder. By his familiarity and chatter- 
ing he at once recognized his old acquaintance. He had become 
too fond of liberty, however, to suffer his master to entrap him, 
and flew off to rejoin his companions. A farmer on Long Island, 
having once slightly wounded a wild goose, kept it alive and tamed 
it. The next spring it joined one of the flocks of its species, which 
was passing over, and was seen no more till the autumn, when it 
returned with two young ones. The whole were then secured 
and domesticated. 

Buffon gives a remarkable account of the education of one of 
the buzzard species, a bird of prey. It became as docile and 
domestic as a cat or a dog. It would follow and caress its owner, 
drive all other birds of prey from his yard, and fight with and 
conquer all his cats and dogs. It had a singular antipathy to 
wigs and red caps. It would snatch them from the heads of 
those who wore them, and carry them up to the tops of the tallest 
trees. It distinguished between its master's poultry and all others'. 
The former it protected, the latter it treated very harshly. 

The sport of falconry affords one of the most striking illustra- 
tions of the degree of perfection to which the training of birds 
has been carried ; and, as the falcon is seldom caught young, the 
difficulty *of the task is enhanced by the consequent development 
of his savage nature. It is first necessary to quell his ferocious 
spirit, to break down his violent temper. This is done by debar- 
ring him from food, by confinement, and sometimes by exposing 
him for some time in a blacksmith's shop to the continued clang 
of hammers. He is at the same time kept under the constant 
watch of the falconer, so as to become accustomed to his pres- 
ence. 

He is then taught to settle on the falconer's fist ; to spring into 
the air when* thrown off, and to return upon the signal of a whistle. 
This is effected by training him while tied by a long string, by 
which he can be made to return at will. Next, some food of 
which he is especially fond is attached to the stuffed figure of a 
14* 



322 EELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

bird, called a lure. This he is suffered to fly at, and at first to 
feed from it to satiety ; but by and by he learns to return without 
feeding at all, on hearing the accustomed signal. When suffi- 
ciently accustomed to this exercise in confinement, he is hooded 
and taken into the field. As soon as the prey is sprung, the 
hood is taken off, and he is tossed into the air. He wheels round 
and round high above his victim, then pounces down, seizes it 
in his talons and bears it to his master, who always rewards him 
with a bit of the flesh. 

Very large falcons have been taught to fly at the roebuck, the 
bear, the wolf, &c. They are made in the first instance to feed 
out of the sockets of the eyes of a stuffed figure of one of these 
animals. "While the bird is eating, the figure is moved on, at first 
slowly, at last very rapidly by a horse at full speed, till the falcon 
has learned to fix himself very firmly to the skull, and to continue 
tearing out his food in spite of the motion. Hence, as soon as 
he is taken out to hunt, and is unloosed at any of these animals, 
he darts upon it, fixes himself upon its skull, and proceeds to tear 
out its eyes. 

In the education of animals great patience and perseverance are 
required ; and it is worthy of remark that little is accomplished 
by severity, as compared with kindness, gentleness, and indul- 
gence. Punishments have less effect than rewards. The best 
success is obtained by establishing agreeable associations with the 
performance of the duty required. This is usually done at first 
by means of favorite articles of food. Sugar especially is much 
used for this purpose. Certain individuals appear to have a pe- 
culiar faculty for the training of animals, and in some instances 
the influence they acquire over them is almost mysterious. This 
is particularly the case in regard to the horse. 

An appeal to the imitative propensity is of great use in the 
education of some animals. This propensity, though limited in 
range, is very perfect as far as it goes. It is of particular advan- 
tage with the monkey tribe among the Mammalia, and with the 
parrots and mocking-birds among Birds. Monkeys appear to pos- 
sess upon the w T hole more intelligence, — that is to say, more 
power of understanding the purposes and motives of persons 
about them, of comprehending their signs and language, and of 



THEIE EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 323 

conducting themselves in conformity with their intentions, — than 
any other animal. It is not, that they have been taught so much 
as others to render essential services to man, — for they have 
been educated as often to mischief as to utility ; — but it is their 
capacity for observation, their nice perception of the purpose of 
what is going on about them, and their power of comprehension 
and combination, which evince this superiority. Let them be as 
carefully educated to useful purposes as the dog, the horse, or the 
elephant, and, although they might prove less serviceable to man- 
kind, they would probably give evidence of a higher degree of 
capacity. Even as their discipline has been managed, the cata- 
logue of their accomplishments is by no means contemptible, and 
affords a good illustration of their capacity. They have been 
taught to dress themselves, to kindle a fire, to scour plate, to 
wash glasses, to make their own beds and wash out their apart- 
ments, to eat with a spoon, to dance to music on the tight rope, 
and to ride on horseback. A few tame apes who had watched the 
operations of some scientific observers, undertook to go through 
with all their motions themselves. One stationed himself at the 
telescope to look through it at the stars, another ran to the time- 
piece as if to count the time, whilst a third undertook to record 
their observations with a pen and ink. 

The monkey and the parrot have each a complete appreciation 
of the nature and extent of their own powers, and do not attempt 
what they have not capacity to accomplish. They have a strong 
dispositioh to imitate, but the disposition in each takes a direction 
which is determined by the kind of organs they have for carrying 
it into effect. The monkey imitates the actions of man, but never 
his words. The parrot imitates his words, but never his actions. 

This propensity in monkeys has been taken advantage of in a 
variety of ways. The Indians, when they wish to capture them, 
wash their own faces and hands in a basin of water in their sight, 
and then retire, leaving the basin filled with birdlime or some 
other adhesive substance. The animals, in attempting to perform 
the same operation, become entangled and blinded, and are then 
easily secured. In order to get the fruit upon the inaccessible 
branches of the cocoa-nut tree, the Indians pluck what is on the 
lower ones, and arrange it in heaps or circles upon the ground. 



324 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

The monkeys immediately imitate the process, and do not desist 
till they have entirely stripped the tree. A Catholic priest, who 
indulged himself in the luxury of a pet monkey, was once fol- 
lowed by him to church, where, seating himself upon the sound- 
ing board over the preacher's head, he imitated in the most gro- 
tesque manner all his gestures, to the unrestrained amusement of 
his congregation. The priest, scandalized by their unseasonable 
levity, had recourse to reproof, and became quite animated and 
violent in his gesticulations. These, being all faithfully copied by 
the mimic over his head, only served to redouble the expressions 
of mirth which he sought to restrain. 

The orang-outang, one of the largest of this tribe, and that 
which approaches the most nearly to man in his physical con- 
formation, has been taught to perform many useful offices as a 
servant, to pound a mortar, to fetch water in a pitcher upon 
his head, to turn the spit and watch the roasting of meat, 
to assist in heating an oven and removing the embers from it, 
to ascend the rigging of a ship and help in managing the 
ropes. BufFon describes one which would give his hand to per- 
sons who came to visit him, and wait upon them to the door; 
would sit at table, unfold and manage his napkin, eat with a 
fork and spoon, pour out wine and drink a health, and pour out 
and sweeten a cup of tea. Another has been taught to pick his 
teeth with a toothpick, eat strawberries with a fork, holding the 
plate in one hand and the fork in the other, and to uncork a 
bottle of wine and drink it ; and on one occasion he attempted 
to unlock his chain with a piece of stick, as he had seen his 
keeper do with a key. 

In some countries, on account of their strange resemblance to 
mankind, monkeys have been held in some reverence, and have 
been the objects of a superstitious worship. In Ceylon a partic- 
ular monkey's tooth, which was supposed to possess peculiar vir- 
tues, was valued at an enormous sum. Sanctuaries or places of 
refuge were allotted to them by the Brahmins. In one of the 
cities of the East, hospitals are said to have been established 
for them. In consequence of being held in this regard, they 
sometimes so increase in numbers and insolence, as to become 
extremely annoying to the inhabitants, who, however, feel bound 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 325 

to tolerate them from the belief, according to the doctrine of 
transmigration, that they are animated by the souls of their 
ancestors. 

Could we find combined in a single animal the powers pos- 
sessed by the monkey and the parrot, it would present indeed a 
very close, but still a very humiliating and distorted, resemblance 
to humanity. But the parrot, although by no means stupid when 
compared with many other birds, is yet far below the monkey, and 
in fact below many others of the Mammalia, in intelligence. The 
monkey understands language without being able to use it ; the 
parrot uses it without being able to understand it; and as the 
monkey never attempts the imitation of words, the parrot never 
attempts to convey ideas by them. 

The extent to which this propensity to imitate sounds may be 
cultivated is in some birds very great. It exists in many others 
beside the parrot tribe, and as to both articulate and inarticulate 
sounds. Birds with a round, thick tongue can be taught to repeat 
words, as the jays, jackdaws, magpies, and crows ; whilst those 
with a thin, forked one are more capable of catching musical 
sounds, such as the cries of birds and animals, and the whistling 
of a man. Thus the canaries, linnets, and bullfinches are some- 
times taught' to repeat artificial airs. The powers of the Ameri- 
can mocking-bird are the most remarkable and well known of 
this kind. The following graphic description of its performances 
is given by Wilson. " While thus exerting himself, a person des- 
titute of sight would suppose that the whole feathered tribes had 
assembled together on a trial of skill, so perfect are his imitations. 
He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search 
of birds that perhaps are not within miles of him, but whose notes 
he exactly imitates ; even birds themselves, are frequently im- 
posed upon by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the 
fancied call of their mates, or dive with precipitation into the 
depth of thickets at the scream of what they suppose to be the 
sparrow-hawk. The mocking-bird loses little of the power and 
energy of his song by confinement. In his domesticated state, 
when he commences his career of song, it is impossible to stand 
by uninterested. He whistles for the dog ; Cresar starts up, wags 
his tail, and runs to meet his master ; he squeaks out like a hurt 



326 BELATTON OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

chicken, and the hen hurries about with hanging wings and brist- 
ling feathers, clucking to protect her injured brood. The barking 
of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the creaking of a passing wheel- 
barrow, follow with great truth and rapidity. He repeats the tune 
taught him by his master, though of considerable length, fully and 
faithfully. He runs over the quaverings of the canary, and the 
clear whistlings of the Yirginian nightingale, or red-bird, with 
such superior execution and effect, that the mortified songsters 
feel their own inferiority, and become altogether silent, while he 
seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions." 

Parrots exhibit various degrees of tractability, and there are 
some which have not only the capacity of uttering articulate 
sounds, but a great disposition to exercise their powers and to 
make new acquirements. They are more easily taught by chil- 
dren than by adults ; perhaps because, as an old writer remarks, 
the articulation of children is more imperfect and unequal, and 
more like that of which the bird itself is capable. But those who 
are well taught, will also imitate the voice, the laugh, and the 
cough of old persons. Their memory is very considerable, espe- 
cially if cultivated when they are young. We are told of one which 
was purchased by a dignitary of the church for a hundred crowns, 
because it could repeat the Apostle's Creed correctly.' Without 
being taught, they will often spontaneously catch and repeat 
phrases which they are in the habit of hearing ; especially when 
they are pronounced with emphasis. Hence, when exposed in 
public places, they are very apt to learn the profane talk and 
vulgar oaths which they constantly hear. They can imitate the 
whistling of a few notes of a tune tolerably well, but not any con- 
tinued melody; they have no true ear for music, and sing no 
airs of their own, like other birds. 

The following is a remarkable example of the self-education of 
the imitative propensity in one of the liveliest and most melo- 
dious of our native birds, the bobolink, or rice-bird. One of 
them was confined in an apartment with a pair of canaries ; but, 
while in a separate cage, he did not sing at all. Afterward, when 
placed in the same one with them, he began to attempt an imita- 
tion, but at first with little success. He watched them closely 
and strove to make the same notes ; but, failing egregiously, he 



, THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 327 

flew at them in anger, pecked at them, and drove them from their 
perch. After a perseverance of some weeks, he was able to 
learn a single note ; and, after practising this for a time, mastered 
another. At length he completely acquired the song of the cana- 
ries, and sang with them in perfect harmony and time, always 
closing at the same note. Before he had made himself perfect, he 
waited (ill the canaries had struck the key-note, before he began 
himself; but after feeling confidence in his own powers, under- 
took always to give the signal himself by a significant cluck, and 
then his companions would strike in, and all would go on together. 

During the period of this self-imposed pupilage he seemed to 
have forgotten his native music, and uttered no note of the 
bobolink. But, after practising with the canaries, he again 
attempted his own melody, at first imperfectly, mixing it with 
that of the canary ; but at length, by careful practice, he regained 
the control over his original song. Then giving his directing 
cluck, whilst the canaries started off with their own peculiar 
song, he would accompany them with the notes of the bobolink ; 
and so they continued afterward to sing together, each with its 
own music, but beginning and ending together. 

' Of all quadrupeds, of whose history and manners we have any 
proper knowledge, the elephant is one of the most remarkable, 
both for docility and for understanding. He possesses all the 
senses in perfection ; but in the sense of touch he excels all 
the brute creation. His trunk is the chief instrument of this 
sense. In* an elephant fourteen feet high, the trunk is about 
eight feet long, and five feet and a half in circumference at the 
base. It is a large fleshy tube, divided through its whole extent 
by a septum or partition. It is capable of motion in every direc- 
tion. The animal can shorten or lengthen it at pleasure. It 
answers every purpose of a hand ; for it grasps large objects 
with great force, and its extremity can lay hold of a sixpence or 
even of a pin. The trunk of the elephant affords him the same 
means of address as the ape has. It serves the purposes of an 
arm and a hand. By this instrument, the elephant conveys large 
or small bodies to his mouth, places them on his back, embraces 
them fast, or throws them forcibly to a distance. 

6 When tamed and instructed by man, the elephant is soon ren- 



328 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

dered the mildest and most obedient of all domestic animals. He 
loves his keeper, caresses him, and anticipates his commands. He 
learns to comprehend signs, and even to understand the expres- 
sion of sounds. He distinguishes the tones of command, of anger, 
and of approbation, and regulates his actions by his perceptions. 
The voice of his master he never mistakes ; and executes his 
orders with alacrity, but without any degree of precipitation. His 
movements are always measured and sedate, and his character 
seems to correspond with the gravity of his mass. To accommo- 
date those who mount him, he readily learns to bend his knees. 
With his trunk he salutes his friends, uses it for raising burdens, 
and assists in loading himself. He loves to be clothed, and seems 
to be proud of gaudy trappings. In the southern regions, he is 
employed in drawing wagons, ploughs, and chariots. "I was 
eye-witness," says P. Philippe, " to the following facts. At Goa 
there are always some elephants employed in the building of 
ships. I one day went to the side of the river, near which a 
large ship was building in the city of Goa, where there is a large 
area filled with beams for that purpose. Some men tie the ends 
of the heaviest beams with a rope, which is handed to the ele- 
phant, who carries it to his mouth, and, after twisting it round his 
trunk, draws them without any conductor, to the place where the 
ship is building, though it has only once been pointed out to him. 
He sometimes drew beams so .large that more than twenty men 
would have been unable to move them. But what surprised me 
still more, when other beams obstructed the road, he elevated the 
ends of his own beams, that they might run easily over those 
which lay in his way. Could the most enlightened man do 
more?" When at work, the elephant draws equally, and, if 
properly managed, never turns restive. The man who conducts 
the animal generally rides on his neck, and employs a hooked 
iron rod, or a bodkin, with which he pricks the head, or sides of 
the ears, in order to push the creature forward, or to make him 
turn. But words are commonly sufficient. The attachment and 
affection of the elephant are sometimes so strong and durable 
that he has been known to die of grief, when, in an unguarded 
paroxysm of rage, he had killed his guide. 

' In India, the domestic elephants, to whom the use of water is 



THEIE EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 329 

as necessary as that of air, are allowed every possible conven- 
ience for bathing themselves. The animal goes into a river till 
the water reaches his belly. He then lies down on one side, fills 
his trunk several times, and dexterously throws the water on such 
parts as happen to be uncovered. The master, after cleaning 
and currying one side, desires the animal to turn to the other, 
which command he obeys with the greatest alacrity ; and, when 
both sides have been properly cleaned, he comes out of the river, 
and stands some time on the bank to dry himself. The elephant, 
though his mass be enormous, is an excellent swimmer; and, of 
course, he is of great use in the passage of rivers. When em- 
ployed on occasions of this kind, he is often loaded with two 
pieces of cannon which admit three or four pound balls, be- 
side great quantities of baggage and several men fixed to his 
ears and tail. When thus heavily loaded, he spontaneously 
enters the river and swims over, with his trunk elevated in the 
air for the benefit of respiration. He is fond of wine and ardent 
spirits. By showing him a vessel filled with any of these 
liquors, and promising him it as the reward of his labors, he is 
induced to exert the greatest efforts, and to perform the most pain- 
ful tasks. The elephant is employed in dragging artillery over 
mountains, and, on these occasions, his sagacity and docility are 
conspicuous. Horses or oxen, when yoked to a cannon, make all 
their exertions to pull it up a declivity. But the elephant pushes 
the breech forward with his front, and at each effort supports the 
carriage with his knee, which he places against the wheel. He 
seems to understand what his cornack, or conductor, says to him. 
When his conductor wants him to perform any painful labor, he 
explains the nature of the operation, and gives the reasons which 
should induce him to obey. If the elephant shows a reluctance 
to the task, the cornack promises to give him wine, arrack, or any 
other article that he is fond of, and then the animal exerts his 
utmost efforts. But to break any promise made to him is 
extremely dangerous- Many cornacks have fallen victims to 
indiscretions of this kind. " At Dehan," says M. de Bussy, " an 
elephant, from revenge, killed its cornack. The man's wife, who 
beheld the dreadful scene, took her two children, and threw them 
at the feet of the enraged animal, saying, Since you have slain )ny 



330 * RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

husband, take my life also, as well as that of my children-. The 
elephant instantly stopped, relented, and, as if stung with remorse, 
took the eldest boy in its trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted 
him for its cornack, and would never allow any other person to 
mount it." 

' From the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences we 
learn some curious facts with regard to the manners of the Ver- 
sailles elephant. This elephant, they remark, seemed to know 
when it was mocked, and remembered the affront till it had an 
opportunity of revenge. A man deceived it by pretending to 
throw some food into its mouth. The animal gave him such a 
blow with its trunk as knocked him down, and broke two of his 
ribs. A painter wanted to draw the animal in an unusual atti- 
tude, with its trunk elevated, and its mouth open. The painter's 
servant, to make it remain in this position, threw fruits into its 
mouth, but generally made only a feint of throwing them. This 
conduct enraged the elephant ; and, as if it knew that the painter 
was the cause of this teasing impertinence, instead of attacking 
the servant, it eyed the master, and squirted at him from its 
trunk such a quantity of water as spoiled the paper on which he 
was drawing. This elephant commonly made less use of its 
strength than of its address. It loosed, with great ease and cool- 
ness, the buckle of a large double leathern strap, with which its 
leg was fixed ; and as the servants had wrapped the buckle round 
with a small cord, and tied many knots upon it, the creature, with 
much deliberation, loosed the whole, without breaking either the 
strap or the cord. 

' Next to the elephant, the dog seems to be the most docile 
quadruped. A wild dog is a passionate, ferocious, and sangui- 
nary animal. But after he is reduced to a domestic state, these 
hostile dispositions are suppressed, and they are succeeded by a 
warm attachment, and a perpetual desire of pleasing. The per- 
ceptions and natural talents of the dog are acute. When these 
are aided by instruction, the sagacity he discovers, and the actions 
he is taught to perform, often excite our wonder. 

' The shepherd's dog, independently of all instruction, seems to 
be endowed by nature with an innate attachment to the preserva- 
tion of sheep and cattle. His docility is likewise so great, that 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 331 

he not only learns to understand the language and commands of the 
shepherd, and obeys them with faithfulness and alacrity, but, 
when at distances beyond the reach of his master's voice, he 
often stops, looks back, and recognizes the approbation or dis- 
approbation of the shepherd from the mere waving of his hand. 
He reigns at the' head of a flock, and his voice is better heard 
than that of his master. His vigilance and activity produce order, 
discipline, and safety. Sheep and cattle are peculiarly subjected 
to his management ; which he prudently conducts and protects, 
and never employs force against them except for the preservation 
of peace and good order. 

' Every person knows the docility and sagacity of such dogs as 
are employed in conducting blind mendicants. A blind beggar 
used to be led through the streets of Rome by a middle-sized dog. 
This dog, beside leading his master in such a manner as to pro- 
tect him from all danger, learned to distinguish not only the 
streets, but the houses, where his master was accustomed to receive 
alms twice or thrice a week. Whenever the animal came to any 
of these streets, with which he was well acquainted, he would not 
leave it till a call had been made at every house where his mas- 
ter was usually successful in his petitions. When the beggar 
began to ask alms, the dog, being wearied, lay down to rest ; 
but the master was no sooner served or refused, than the dog 
rose spontaneously, and, without either order or sign, proceeded 
to the other houses where the beggar generally received some 
gratuity. When a half-penny was thrown from a window, such 
was the sagacity and attention of this dog, that he went about in 
quest of it, lifted it from the ground with his mouth, and put it 
into his master's hat. Even when bread was thrown down, the 
animal would not taste it, unless he received a portion of it from 
the hand of his master. Without any other instruction than imi- 
tation, a mastiff, when accidentally shut out from a house which 
his master frequented, uniformly rung the bell for admittance. 
Dogs can be taught to go to market with money, to repair to a 
known butcher, and to carry home the meat in safety. They can 
be taught to dance to music, and to search for food, and find any- 
thing that is lost. 

* There was a dog formerly belonging to a grocer in Edin- 



332 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. 

burgh, which for some time amused and astonished the people 
in the neighborhood. A man, who went through the streets ring- 
ing a bell and selling penny pies, happened one day to treat this 
dog with* a pie. The next time he heard the pie-man's bell, he 
ran to him with impetuosity, seized him by the coat, and would 
not suffer him to pass. The pie-man, who understood what the 
animal wanted, showed him a penny, and pointed to his master, 
who stood in the street-door, and saw what was going on. The 
dog immediately supplicated his master by many humble gestures 
and looks. The master put a penny into the dog's mouth, which 
he instantly delivered to the pie-man, and received his pie. This 
traffic between the pie-man and the grocer's dog was daily 
practised for several months. 

• Mr. Ray, who wrote about the end of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, informs us, that he had seen a horse who danced to music, 
who, at the command of his master, affected to be lame, who 
simulated death, lay motionless with his limbs extended, and 
allowed himself to be dragged about, till some words were pro- 
nounced, when he instantly sprung up on his feet. Facts of this 
kind would scarcely receive credit, if every person were not now 
acquainted with the wonderful docility of the horses educated by 
public exhibitors of horsemanship. In exhibitions of this kind, 
the docility and prompt obedience of the animals deserve more 
admiration than the dexterous feats of the men. 

■ Animals of the ox kind, in a domestic state, are dull and 
phlegmatic. Their sensibility and talents seem to be very 
limited. But we should not pronounce rashly concerning the 
genius and powers of animals in a country where their education 
is totally neglected. In all the southern provinces of Africa and 
Asia, there are many wild bisons, or bunched oxen, which are 
caught young and tamed. They are soon taught to submit, 
without resistance, to all kinds of domestic labor. They become 
so tractable that they are managed with as much ease as our 
horses. The voice of their master is alone sufficient to make 
them obey, and to direct their course. They are shod, curried, 
caressed, and supplied abundantly with the best food. "When 
managed in this manner, these animals appear to be different 
creatures from our oxen. The oxen of the Hottentots are favor- 



THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICATION. 333 

ite domestics, companions in amusements, assistants in all labori- 
ous exercises, and participate the habitation, the bed, and the 
table of their masters. As their nature is improved by the 
gentleness of their education, by the kind treatment they receive, 
and the perpetual attention bestowed on them, they acquire 
sensibility and intelligence, and perform actions which one would 
not expect from them. The Hottentots train oxen to war. In 
all their armies there are considerable troops of them, which are 
easily governed, and are let loose by the chief when a proper 
opportunity occurs. They instantly dart with impetuosity upon 
the enemy. They strike with their horns, kick, overturn, and 
trample under their feet everything that opposes their fury. 
They run ferociously into the ranks, which they soon put in the 
utmost disorder, and thus pave the way for an easy victory to 
their masters. They are likewise instructed to guard the flocks, 
which they conduct with dexterity, and defend them from the 
attacks of strangers and of rapacious animals. They are taught 
to distinguish friends from enemies, to understand signals, and to 
obey the commands of their masters. When pasturing, at the 
smallest signal from the keeper, they bring back and collect the 
wandering animals. They attack all strangers with fury ; which 
renders them a great security against robbers. These hrachelays 
as they are called, know every inhabitant of the kraal, and dis- 
cover the same marks of respect for all the men, women, and 
children, as a dog does for those who live in his master's house. 
These people may, therefore, approach their cattle with the 
greatest safety. But if a stranger, and particularly a European, 
should use the same freedom, without being accompanied by 
one of the Hottentots, his life would be in imminent danger.' 
The influence of education is, however, by no means confined 
to the animals of the higher orders. Reptiles, Fishes, and even 
Insects have also been trained and domesticated. In Ceylon, the 
deadly Cobra has been sometimes tamed and trained to perform 
certain services. He has been kept as an inmate of the house, 
moving about freely with the members of the family. In one 
household, near Negombo, a wealthy individual, who kept large 
sums of money at home, employed them instead of dogs, as pro- 
tectors. They glided about his apartments, a terror to thieves, 



334 RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN 

but harmless to all others. Fishes, toads, and spiders, have been 
taught to come at a given signal for food, and fleas have been 
educated to endure a harness, and perform various curious 
evolutions. 

Wonderful accounts have been given of the serpent-charmers 
of the East, and it has been generally believed that they have 
some peculiar power hereditary in certain families, by which they 
are able to handle and play with, and even to irritate, the most 
venemous of the race without injury. That this is constantly 
done there is no doubt, but there have been different opinions as 
to the mode. Some writers have asserted that the poisonous 
fangs are always extracted before the animals are handled. An 
exhibition of this kind was given at the Zoological Gardens in 
London a few years ago, and the disclosures of the performers 
appear to favor this view of the question. The following brief 
sketch is condensed from a published and apparently authentic 
narrative. The exhibitors were an old man and his son-in-law 
Mohammed, a mere lad of sixteen. " The lad, with his arms 
bared, first seizes by the tail a large Cobra de Capello, a hooded 
snake of the most poisonous kind, and holding him at arm's length 
allows him to writhe about for some time, till he is in a state of 
high irritation. He is pinched and teased in various ways, and 
repeatedly strikes at the hands, arms, and legs of his assailant, 
but the blows are all avoided with great agility. Another larger 
and fiercer is then seized in the same way, and is buffeted about 
the head with the open hand till he is quite furious and seizes 
the lad on the arm ; but, merely wiping the spot, the boy proceeds 
to tie the animal about his neck, and also into a variety of knots. 
He then tells him to be quiet, and lays him on his back, gently 
stroking his neck and skin. He remains as if quite dead, and a 
third is carried through the same process, and then placed in the 
bosom next the skin, where he coils quite around the body of the 
exhibitor, and is withdrawn only with great difficulty and in a 
state of great irritation." 

Upon a strict examination of the persons making this ex- 
hibition, they admitted that the fangs were always previously 
removed, and that without this precaution no one would venture 
upon such freedom with these deadly reptiles. They described 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 335 

the manner of catching and preparing their subjects, and it is in 
this part of the process that the peculiar skill and courage of the 
serpent-charmers is shown. 

But, in contradiction to this statement, we have the assertion of 
many travellers who have witnessed these exhibitions in the East, 
that the fangs are not extracted, that they have examined the ani- 
mals thus exhibited, and that, at the same time that they were thus 
completely under the influence of the charmers and incapable of 
doing them any injury, their bite was as destructive as ever to 
the life of other animals exposed to them. Dr. John Davy, in 
his account of Ceylon, is certain that the only charm exerted is 
that of courage and confidence. Bruce, the celebrated Egyptian 
traveller, gives his testimony to the same effect, and more lately 
Tennent confirms the same statement. 



CHAPTER XIII. (S.) 

OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

6 The Monkey tribes are among the most remarkable of animals, 
for their various indications of cunning, artifice, and even intelli- 
gence. Others may sometimes exhibit a greater amount of 
actual, practical wisdom, but there are none which present a 
nearer approach in certain respects to the human character, or 
a more close imitation of some of the lower faculties, propensi- 
ties, and manners of our own species. ■ Their peculiarities will 
be best illustrated by a variety of examples.' 

Margraaf informs us, that the monkeys in Brazil, while they 
are sleeping on the trees, have uniformly a sentinel to warn them 
of the approach of the tiger or other rapacious animals ; and that, 
if ever this sentinel is found sleeping, his companions instantly 
tear him in pieces for his neglect of duty. For the same pur- 
pose, when a, troop of monkeys are committing depredations on 
the fruits of a garden, a sentinel is placed on an eminence, who, 



336 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

when any person appears, makes a certain chattering noise, which 
the rest understand to be a signal for retreat, and immediately fly 
off and make their escape. 

1 Mr. Parkyns in his late travels in Abyssinia states many 
interesting particulars concerning them. 

' " You see them," he says, " quarrelling, making love ; mothers 
taking care of their children, combing their hair ; and the pas- 
sions, jealousy, anger, love, are as distinctly marked as among 
men. They have a language apparently as intelligible to one 
another as ours ; and in this they scold at, and dispute with, each 
other, as earnestly as we do. 

' " The monkeys, especially the cynocephali, have their chiefs, 
whom they implicitly obey, and a regular system of tactics in 
war, pillaging, robbing orchards, &c. These forays are managed 
with the utmost regularity. A tribe coming down to feed from 
their village in the mountains, which is usually a cleft in the face 
of some cliff, brings with it all its members. The elders of the 
tribe, distinguished by the quantity of mane which covers their 
shoulders, take the lead, peering cautiously over the precipices, 
and pausing at each elevation to take a survey of the road before 
them. Others are posted as scouts, in flank and rear, who are 
equally vigilant, and call out at times, as if to keep order among 
the motley group that constitutes the main body, or to give notice 
of some real or fancied danger. 

' u The main body is composed of the young people of the tribe 
and the females. The small children are carried on their moth- 
ers' backs. Unlike the dignified march of the leaders, the rabble 
go along in a most disorderly manner, trotting on and chattering 
heedlessly, trusting entirely to the vigilance of their scouts. The 
young linger behind to pick berries from some tree ; the mothers 
delay now and then, to feed, or caress, or dress the hair of their 
offspring ; and the younger females, apparently provoked by each 
other's cries or gestures, pinch, scratch, and bite one another, till 
a loud bark of command from one of the chiefs calls them to 
order. A single cry of alarm makes them all halt and remain on 
the alert ; till another in a different tone reassures them, and 
they then proceed on their march. 

' " Arrived at the cornfields, the scouts take their position on 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 337 

the eminences all around, while the remainder of the tribe collect 
provision with the utmost expedition. They fill their cheek- 
pouches as full as they can hold, and then tuck the heads of 
corn under their armpits. Now there must be afterward a divis- 
ion of the collected spoil according to some established princi- 
ple, or else how- do the scouts feed? for they never quit for a 
moment their post of duty till it is time for the tribe to return, 
or till some indication of danger renders a retreat necessary. 

' " They show great sagacity in searching for water, discovering 
at once the places where it is most readily found in the sand, 
and then digging for it with their hands, just as men would, and 
relieving one another in the work if the labor prove too great." 

' The following anecdote serves to illustrate their singular 
adroitness and cunning. A showman, who had several to exhibit, 
gave Mr. Parkyns an opportunity of witnessing the tricks of one 
of them, who was a most dexterous thief, and managed always to 
steal food enough for his own support. His keeper led him to a spot 
near a date-seller who was sitting upon the ground with his bas- 
ket beside him, and then put him through his usual evolutions. He 
kept a watchful eye upon the fruit ; but so completely did he dis- 
guise his intentions, that a careless observer would never have 
noticed it. He did not at first appear to care about approaching 
the basket, but gradually brought himself nearer and nearer, till 
he got quite close to the owner. In the middle of one of his 
feats, he suddenly started up from the ground, on which he was 
lying stretched out like a corpse, and, uttering a cry as of rage 
or pain, fixed his eyes full at the face of the date-seller, and then, 
without moving the rest of his body, stole as many dates as he 
could hold in one of his hind hands, and popped them into his 
cheek-pouches, his victim knowing nothing of his loss, till in- 
formed of it by the laugh of the bystanders at his expense, in 
which he heartily joined. At this moment a boy in the crowd 
pulled the animal sharply by the tail. Conscience-stricken, as 
it were, he imagined the insult to have come from the man he 
had robbed, and fell upon him at once with great fury, and would 
have bitten him severely, except for the interference of his master. 

4 Their strong imitative propensity was exhibited to Mr. Parkyns 
in a curious and rather costly manner. He had been observed 
15 



338 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

by one of them, in reading a book, to turn over its leaves in rapid 
succession as he went on with it. The monkey obtained the vol- 
ume ; and, sitting down to imitate him, as he turned each leaf, he 
tore it down from top to bottom. 

' The exhibitor of a monkey laid a wager with the owner of a 
fierce English bull-dog, that the monkey would kill the dog in less 
than ten minutes, with no other weapon than a small oaken ferule. 
His master putting it into his hand, tossed him into the ring, say- 
ing, " Look out for that dog." The ferocious animal sprang at 
him, the bystanders expecting nothing but that he would tear 
his feeble adversary to pieces at once. The monkey, however, 
leaped several feet into the air, alighted upon the dog's back, 
seized him by the neck, and beat him to death in a few momenls. 

'A monkey was in the habit of riding his owner's hogs, especially 
one to which he was . particularly partial. He would leap upon 
its back with his face towards its tail, and, whipping it unmerci- 
fully, drive it about till it could run no longer. The hogs lived 
under such terror of their tormenter, that, when he first came 
abroad in the morning, they set up a great cry at the sight of him. 
A person having a very vicious horse, that no one could ride, was 
advised to put the animal upon him. A pad was placed on 
his back, and the monkey upon it, with a switch in his hand, 
which he applied in the most vigorous manner. The horse im- 
mediately began kicking and galloping, but the monkey kept his 
seat and exercised his switch. The horse lay down upon the 
ground ; but, when he threw himself on one side, the monkey was 
up on the other. He ran into a wood to brush him off; but, if a 
tree or bush occurred on one side, the monkey slipped to the other. 
At last the poor victim was so sickened, fatigued, and broken- 
spirited, that he ran home to the stable for protection. When 
the monkey was dismounted, a boy was placed upon the horse, 
who managed him with ease, and he gave no trouble afterward ! ' 

The Deer kind are remarkable for the arts they employ in 
order to deceive the dogs. With this view the stag often returns 
twice or thrice upon his former steps. He endeavors to raise 
hinds or younger stags to follow him, and draw off the dogs from 
the immediate object of their pursuit. If he succeeds in this at- 
tempt, he then flies off with redoubled speed, or springs off at a 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 339 

side, and lies down on his belly to conceal himself. When in 
this situation, if by any means his foot is recovered by the dogs, 
they pursue him with more advantage, because he is now con- 
siderably fatigued. No other resource is now left him but to fly 
from the earth which he treads, and go into the waters, in order 
to cut off the scent from the dogs, when the huntsmen again en- 
deavor to put them on the track of his foot. After taking to the 
water, the stag is so much exhausted that he is incapable of run- 
ning much farther, and is soon at bay, or, in other words, turns 
and defends himself against the hounds. In this situation he 
often wounds the dogs, and even the huntsmen, by blows with 
the horns, till one of them cuts his hams to make him fall, and 
then puts a period to his life. 

The fallow-deer are more delicate, less savage, and approach 
nearer to the domestic state than the stag. They associate in 
herds, which generally keep together. When great numbers are 
assembled in one park, they commonly form themselves into two 
distinct troops, which soon become hostile, because they are both 
ambitious of possessing the same part of the inclosure. Each 
of these troops has its own chief or leader, who always marches 
foremost, and he is uniformly the oldest and strongest of the 
flock. The others follow him ; and the whole draw up in order 
of battle, to force the other troop, who observe the same conduct, 
from the best pasture. When hunted, they run not straight out, 
like the stag, but double, and endeavor to conceal themselves 
from the dogs by various artifices, and by substituting other ani- 
mals in their place. When fatigued and heated, however, they 
take the water, but never attempt to cross such large rivers as 
the stag does. 

The roe-deer is inferior to the stag and fallow-deer, both in 
strength and stature ; but he is endowed with more gracefulness, 
courage, and vivacity. His eyes are more brilliant and animated. 
His limbs are more nimble ; his movements are quicker, and he 
bounds with equal vigor and agility. He is, likewise, more 
crafty, conceals himself with greater address, and derives superior 
resources from his instincts. Though he leaves behind him a 
stronger scent than the stag, which increases the ardor of the 
dogs, he knows how to evade their pursuit, by the rapidity with 



340 AETIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

which he commences his flight, and by numerous doublings. He 
delays not his arts of defence till his strength begins to fail him ; 
for he no sooner perceives that the efforts of a rapid flight have 
been unsuccessful, than he repeatedly returns upon his former 
steps ; and after confounding, by these opposite motions, the direc- 
tion he has taken, after intermixing the present with the past 
emanations of his body, he, by a great bound, rises from the earth, 
and, retiring to a side, lies down flat upon his belly. In this im- 
movable situation, he often allows the whole pack of his deceived 
enemies to pass very near him. The roe-deer differs from the 
stag in disposition, manners, and in almost every natural habit. 
Instead of associating in herds, they live in separate families. 
The two parents and the young go together, and never mingle 
with strangers. When threatened with danger, the mother hides 
her young in a close thicket ; and so strong is her parental affec- 
tion, that, in order to preserve them from destruction, she presents 
herself to be chased. 

* The American panther has a mortal foe in the black bear, and 
a deadly strife occurs when they encounter each other. The 
deer, when pursued by the panther, sometimes avails itself of its 
knowledge of this enmity, and cunningly leads its pursuer into 
the very jaws of his foe. An instance is related of the remark- 
able adroitness exhibited on one occasion by the weaker animal, 
who, when hotly followed by the panther, and nearly exhausted, 
discovered the retreat of one of these bears, and, after some doub- 
ling, made directly for him, but, measuring well her distance, 
leaped clear over him, leaving the panther, who was directly 
at her heels, to fall a victim to his natural enemy/ 

Hares form seats, or nests, on the surface of the ground, where 
they watch, with the most vigilant attention, the approach of any 
danger. In order to deceive, they conceal themselves between 
clods of the same color with their own hair. When pursued, 
they first run with rapidity, and then double or return upon their 
former steps. From the place of starting, the females run not 
so far as the males ; but they double more frequently. Hares 
hunted in the place where they are brought forth, seldom remove 
to a great distance from it, but return to their form ; and when 
chased two days successively, on the second day they perform 



AETIFICES OF ANIMALS. 341 

the same doublings they had practised the day before. When 
hares run straight out to a great distance, it is a proof that they 
are strangers. " I have seen a hare," Fouilloux remarks, " so 
sagacious, that, after hearing the hunter's horn, he started from 
his form, and, though at the distance of a quarter of a league, 
went to swim in a pool, and lay down on the rushes in the mid- 
dle of it, without being chased by the dogs. I have seen a hare, 
after running two hours before the dogs, push another from his 
seat, and take possession of it. I have seen others swim over two 
or three ponds, the narrowest of which was eighty paces broad. 
I have seen others, after a two hours' chase, run into a sheep- 
fold, and lie down among its occupants. I have seen others, 
when hard pushed, run in among a flock of sheep, and they would 
not leave them. I have seen others, after hearing the noise of the 
hounds, conceal themselves in the earth. I have seen others run 
up one side of a hedge, and return by the other, when there was 
nothing else between them and the dogs. I have seen others, 
after running half an hour, mount an old wall six feet high, and 
clap down in a hole covered with ivy. Lastly, I have seen 
others swim over a river, of about eighty paces broad, oftener 
than twice, in the length of two hundred paces." 

The Fox has, in all ages and nations, been celebrated for crafti- 
ness and address. Acute and circumspect, sagacious and pru- 
dent, he diversifies his conduct, and always reserves some art for 
unforeseen accidents. Though nimbler than the wolf, he trusts 
not entirely to the swiftness of his course. He knows how to 
insure safety by providing himself with an asylum, to which he 
retires when danger appears. He is not a vagabond, but lives 
in a settled habitation, and in a domestic state. The choice of 
situation, the art of making and rendering a house commodious, 
and of concealing the avenues which lead to it, imply a superior 
degree of sentiment and reflection. The fox possesses these 
qualities, and employs them with dexterity and advantage. He 
takes up his abode on the border of a wood, and in the neighbor- 
hood of cottages. Here he listens to the crowing of the cocks 
and the noise of the poultry. He scents them at a distance. 
He chooses his time with great judgment and discretion. He 
conceals both his route and his design. He moves forward with 



342 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

caution, sometimes even trailing his body, and seldom makes a 
fruitless expedition. When he leaps the wall, or gets in under- 
neath it, he ravages the court-yard, puts all the fowls to death, 
and' then retires quietly with his prey, which he either conceals 
under the herbage, or carries off to his kennel. The young 
hares he hunts in the plains, seizes old ones in their seats, digs 
out the rabbits in the warrens, finds out the nests of partridges, 
quails, &c, seizes the mothers on the eggs, and destroys a pro- 
digious number of game. Dogs of all kinds spontaneously hunt 
him. "When pursued, he runs to his hole ; and it is not uncom- 
mon to send in terriers to detain him till the hunters remove the 
earth above, and eitlier kill or seize him alive. The most cer- 
tain method, however, of destroying a fox is to begin with shut- 
ting up the hole, to station a man with a gun near the entrance, 
and then to search about with the dogs. When they fall in with 
him, he immediately makes for his hole. But, when he comes 
up to it, he is met with a discharge from the gun. If the shot 
misses him, he flies off at full speed, takes a wide circuit, and 
returns to the hole, where he is fired upon a second time ; but, 
when he discovers that the entrance is shut, he darts away 
straight forward, with the intention of never revisiting his former 
habitation. He is next pursued by the hounds, whom he seldom 
fails to fatigue ; because, with much cunning, he passes through 
the thickest part of the forest, or places of the most difficult ac- 
cess, where the dogs are hardly able to follow him ; and, when 
he takes to the plains, he runs straight out, without either stopping 
or doubling. But the most effectual way of destroying foxes is to 
lay snares baited with live pigeons, fowls, &c. The fox is an ex- 
ceedingly voracious animal. Besides all kinds of flesh and fish, 
he devours, with equal avidity, eggs, milk, cheese, fruits, and par- 
ticularly grapes. He is so extremely fond of honey that he at- 
tacks the nests of wild bees. They at first put him to flight by 
numberless stings ; but he retires for the sole purpose of rolling 
himself on the ground, and of crushing the bees. He returns to 
the charge so often that he obliges them to abandon the hive, 
which he soon uncovers, and devours both the honey and the 
wax. 

Birds have such an antipathy against him, that they no sooner 



AKTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 343 

perceive him than they send forth shrill cries to advertise their 
neighbors of the enemy's approach. The jays and blackbirds, in 
particular, follow him from tree to tree, sometimes two or three 
hundred paces, often repeating the watch-cries. The Count de 
Buffon kept two young foxes, which, when at liberty, attacked 
the poultry ; but, after they were chained, they never attempted 
to touch a single fowl. A living hen was then placed near them 
for whole nights ; and, though destitute of victuals for many hours, 
in spite of hunger and opportunity, they never forgot that they 
were chained, and gave the hen no disturbance. 

In Kamtschatka, the animals called Gluttons employ a singular 
stratagem for killing the fallow-deer. They climb up a tree, and 
carry with them a quantity of that species of moss of which the 
deer are very fond. When a deer approaches near the tree, the 
glutton throws down the moss. If the deer stops to eat the moss, 
the glutton instantly darts upon his back, and, after fixing him- 
self firmly between the horns, tears out his eyes, which torments 
the animal to such a degree, that, whether to put an end to its 
torments, or to get rid of its cruel enemy, it strikes its head 
against the tree till it falls down dead. The glutton divides the 
flesh of the deer into convenient portions, and conceals them in 
the earth to serve for future provisions. The gluttons on the river 
Lena kill horses in the same manner. 

There are several species of rats in Kamtschatka. The most 
remarkable kind is called Tegulchitch by the natives. They make 
neat and spacious nests under ground, which they line with turf, 
and divide into different apartments, in which they deposit stores 
of provisions for supporting them during the winter. It is worthy 
of remark, that they never touch the provisions laid up for the 
winter, except when they cannot procure nourishment anywhere 
else. These rats, like the Tartars, change their habitations. 
Sometimes they totally abandon Kamtschatka for several years, 
and their retreat greatly alarms the inhabitants, which they con- 
sider as a presage of a rainy season, and of a bad year for 
hunting. Their return is, of course, looked upon as a good 
omen. They always take their departure in the spring, when 
they assemble in prodigious numbers, and traverse rivers, lakes, 
and even arms of the sea. After they have made a long voyage* 



344 ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

they frequently lie motionless on the shore, as if they were dead. 
When they recover their strength, they recommence their march. 
They generally return to Kamtschatka about the month of Oc- 
tober : and they are sometimes met with in such prodigious num- 
bers, that travellers are obliged to stop hours till the whole troop 
passes. 

With regard to Birds, their artifices are not less numerous nor 
less surprising than those of quadrupeds. The eagle and hawk 
kinds are remarkable for the sharpness of their sight, and the 
arts they employ in catching their prey. Their movements are 
rapid or slow, according to their intentions, and the situation of 
the animals they wish to devour. Eapacious birds uniformly 
endeavor to rise higher in the air than their prey, that they may 
have an opportunity of darting forcibly down upon it with their 
pounces. To counteract these artifices, Nature has endowed the 
smaller and more innocent species of birds with many arts of 
defence. When a hawk appears, the small birds, if they find it 
convenient^ conceal themselves in hedges or brushwood. When 
deprived of this opportunity, they often, in great numbers, seem 
to follow the hawk, and to expose themselves unnecessarily to 
danger, while in fact, by their numbers, their perpetual changes 
of direction, and their uniform endeavors to rise above him, they 
perplex him to such a degree that he is unable to fix upon a 
single object ; and, after exerting all his art and address, he is 
frequently obliged to relinquish the pursuit. When in the ex- 
tremity of danger, and after employing every other artifice in 
vain, small birds have been often known to fly to men for pro- 
tection. This is a plain indication that these animals, though 
they in general avoid the human race, are by no means so much 
afraid of man as of rapacious birds. 

Ravens often frequent the sea-shores in quest of food. When 
they find their inability to break the shells of mussels, &c, to 
accomplish this purpose they use a very ingenious stratagem. 
They carry a mussel, or other shell-fish, high up in the air, and 
then drop it down upon a rock, by which means the shell is 
broken, and they obtain the end they had in view. 

6 We are told of a Crow, who, desirous of getting possession of 
a bone which a dog, chained to his cabin, was quietly gnawing in 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 345 

front of it, attempted by various tricks and grimaces to divert 
his attention so that he might seize it. Failing in this, he flew 
away, and returned with another. The second comer suddenly 
darted down and struck the dog upon the spine. Irritated, and 
turning upon his assailant, he dropped the bone. This was im- 
mediately seized upon by the ingenious thief, who then flew away 
with hfs companion to enjoy their booty. 

' A small bird of the hawk kind, called the Nine-killer, has 
been observed at particular seasons of the year to catch grass- 
hoppers, beetles, or other insects, kill them, and stick them in a 
position entirely natural, upon the branches of trees or bushes, 
so that they appear, at first sight, as if alive. It is a common 
opinion where this bird is found, that it thus destroys nine insects 
every day, and hence its name ; but, as it is known not to feed 
upon insects itself, but principally upon small quadrupeds and 
birds, the object of this expedient is not perfectly obvious. 
Some have supposed that it is done merely for amusement. 
The most probable explanation, however, is, that the insects are 
intended by this little hawk as a decoy for the birds which it de- 
signs for its prey. This manoeuvre is put in practice in the fall 
of the year, Just before the severe frosts begin, which by killing 
the insects deprive the smaller birds of the food on which they 
have been accustomed to subsist. They are of course, in the 
season of scarcity, led to the bait their sagacious enemy has 
provided, and thus become an easy prey.' 

Of the economy of the inhabitants of the water, our knowledge 
is extremely limited. But, as the ocean exhibits a perpetual and 
general scene of attack and defence, the arts of assault and of 
evasion must, of course, be exceedingly various. For the pres- 
ervation of some species of fishes, Nature has armed them with 
strong and sharp pikes. Others, as the perch kind, are defended 
by strong, bony rays in their fins. Others, as the univalve 
shell-fish, retire into their shells upon the approach of danger. 
The bivalves and multivalves, when attacked, instantly shut their 
shells, which, in general, is a sufficient protection to them. Some 
univalves, as the limpet kind, attach themselves so firmly, by ex- 
cluding the air, to rocks and stones, that, unless quickly surprised, 
no force inferior to that of breaking the shell can remove them. 
15* 



346 AETIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

Several fishes, and particularly the salmon kind, when about to 
generate, leave the ocean, ascend the rivers, deposit their eggs in 
the sand, and, after making a proper nidus for their future prog- 
eny, return to the ocean from whence they came. Others, as the 
herring kind, though they seldom go up rivers, assemble in myr- 
iads from all quarters, and approach the shores, or ascend arms 
of the sea, for the purpose of continuing the species. When that 
operation is performed, they leave the coasts, and disperse in the 
ocean, till the same instinctive impulse forces them to observe 
similar conduct the next season. 

The insect tribes, though comparatively diminutive, are not- 
deficient in artifice and address. With much art the Spider spins 
his web. It serves him the double purpose of a habitation, and 
of a machine for catching his food. With incredible patience 
and perseverance, he lies in the centre of his web for days, and 
sometimes for weeks, before an ill-fated fly happens to be en- 
tangled. One species of spider, which is small, of a blackish 
color, and frequents cottages or outhouses, I have known to 
live, during the whole winter months, almost without the possibil- 
ity of receiving any nourishment ; for, during that period, not a 
fly of any kind could be discovered in the apartment. If they 
had been in a torpid state, like some other animals, the wonder 
of their surviving the want of food so long would not have been 
so great. But in the severest weather, and through the whole 
course of the winter, they were perfectly active and lively. 
Neither did they seem to be in the least emaciated. 

The Formica-leo, or Ant-lion, is a small insect, somewhat re- 
sembling a wood-louse, but larger. Its head is flat, and armed 
with two fine movable crotchets, or pincers. It has six legs, and 
its body, which terminates in a point, is composed of a number 
of membranous rings. In the sand, or in finely-pulverized earth, 
this animal digs a hole in the form of a funnel, at the bottom of 
which it lies in ambush for its prey. As it always walks back- 
ward, it cannot pursue any insect. To supply this defect, it lays 
a snare for them, and especially for the ant, which is its favorite 
food. It generally lies concealed under the sand in the bottom 
of its funnel or trap, and seldom exhibits more than the top of 
its head. In digging a funnel, the ant-lion begins with tra- 



ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 347 

cing a circular furrow in the sand, the circumference of which 
determines the size of the funnel, which is often an inch deep. 
After the first furrow is made, the animal traces a second, which 
is always concentric with the first. It throws out the sand as 
with a shovel, from the successive furrows or circles, by means 
of its square, flat head, and one of its fore legs. It proceeds in 
this manner till it has completed its funnel, which it does with 
surprising promptitude and address. At the bottom of this artful 
snare, it lies concealed and immovable. When an ant happens 
to make too near an approach to the margin of the funnel, the 
sides of which are very steep, the fine sand gives way, and the 
unwary animal tumbles down to the bottom. The ant-lion 
instantly kills the ant, buries it under the sand, and sucks out its 
vitals. It afterwards pushes out the empty skin, repairs the dis- 
order introduced into its snare, and again lies in ambush for a 
fresh prey. 

A spider, of that kind which carries her eggs in a bag attached 
to her belly, was thrown into the funnel of an ant-lion. The 
latter instantly seized the bag of eggs, and endeavored to drag it 
under the sand. The spider, from a strong love of offspring, 
allowed its own body to be carried along with the bag. But the 
slender silk by which it was fixed to the animal's belly broke, 
and a separation took place. The spider immediately seized the 
bag with her pincers, and exerted all her efforts to regain the 
object of her affections. But these efforts were ineffectual; for 
the ant-lion gradually sunk the bag deeper and deeper in the 
sand. The spider, however, rather than quit her hold, allowed 
herself to be buried alive. In a short time, the observer re- 
moved the sand, and took out the spider. She was perfectly un- 
hurt ; for the ant-lion had not made an attack upon her. But, 
so strong was her attachment to her eggs, that, though frequently 
touched with a twig, she would not leave the place which con- 
tained them. 

When arrived at its full growth, the ant-lion gives up the 
business of an ensnaring hunter. He deserts his former habita- 1 
tion, and crawls about for some time on the surface of the earth. 
He at last retires under the ground, spins a round silken pod, 
and is soon transformed into a fly. 



348 ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 



CHAPTER XIV. (W.) 

ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 

The principle of association in man is different in its develop- 
ment from that which is observed in all other animals, in so far as 
it is progressive in him, and stationary in them. Man has, no 
doubt, a social or gregarious instinct, which leads him to love and 
to seek the company of his fellows. But the form which his as- 
sociations assume, the purposes they accomplish, the manner in 
which they are carried on, vary according to the circumstances in 
which he is placed. What are more unlike than the habitations, 
the food, the dress, the manners, and the habits of a savage in the 
interior of Australia, and those of the refined inhabitants of the 
cities of Europe ? The beaver builds and lives for the most part 
in the same way ; he is precisely where he was when first known 
to man. The bee and the ant, perfect as their societies are for 
to the purposes of their peculiar existence, know and seek no im- 
provement. 

In man, then, the tendency is instinctive, but its development 
is entirely dependent upon observation, experience, reason, and 
feeling; its development differs, therefore, in every tribe and 
every nation. In animals, the tendency and the development 
are both instinctive; and the mode of development is, conse- 
quently, nearly identical, and never progressive. 

The disposition of animals to associate with each other varies 
in degree and as to the objects to which it is directed. Some only 
associate for the purpose of continuing the species, and no per- 
sonal relation exists between different individuals. Others con- 
nect themselves in pairs for the same object. Some are gregari- 
ous from apparently a simple love of companionship, and with 
this feeling even those of different species will sometimes attach 
themselves to each other. There are those that collect together 
in flocks for the purpose of attack or defence; those that are 



ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 349 

combined together in order to build common habitations, but that 
still maintain their individual liberty ; and, still further, those 
that not only build a common habitation, but constitute a com- 
munity having regular institutions, a subordination of ranks, 
a division of labor, and a complete subservience of every indi- 
vidual to the general purposes of the state of which he consti- 
tutes a part. 

The larger beasts of prey are unsociable and solitary. The 
lion associates with no other animal, seldom even with those of 
his own species. Some undoubted and interesting instances are 
recorded of his sparing small animals thrown into his cage, when 
he is himself a captive, and making them his companions. 
These are exceptions. Although by no means intrinsically 
sanguinary or ferocious, he has no love of society ; he is, in his 
wild state, unapproachable, and loves to dwell and hunt by him- 
self. The same is true of the tiger, the leopard, and others of 
the same description. But, among the carnivorous animals of 
the dog kinds, as the w T olf and fox, as they are less powerful and 
courageous individually, we find a disposition to associate for cer- 
tain purposes. It is ordinarily in concert that they attack large 
flocks of horses, deer, and sheep ; but there is no other special 
bond of union among them, and no indication of an organized 
society. 

Among many herbivorous quadrupeds the social disposition is 
strong, partly from the simple love of company, and partly for 
the purposes of common defence. Nearly all the larger animals 
of this kind, the elephant, horse, zebra, buffalo, bison, sheep, and 
deer, unite in large herds, and render themselves so formidable 
to beasts of prey, that it is only by stratagem and by picking up 
stragglers from the main body that any of them can be seized. 
Even the common sheep, proverbial as they have almost become 
for cowardice and stupidity, when they have been accustomed to 
feed in remote districts, beyond the protection of mankind, defend 
themselves with success against very formidable enemies. There 
is no animal which, in proportion to its size, is capable of inflict- 
ing a more severe blow than the male. The butt of the ram 
has even been known to overthrow the bull ; the latter animal, 
by lowering his head too far, receiving the blow at a disadvan- 



350 ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 

tage. A single enemy will be thus disposed of; but, when at- 
tacked by numbers, as by a pack of wolves, the flock draws up 
into a compact body, with the young and weak in the centre, the 
stronger on the outside, and, thus arranged in a firm phalanx, it 
makes a formidable defence. 

Among the smaller quadrupeds the social tendency is fre- 
quently very marked, but the object is not common defence. In 
many it is merely an instinctive preference for the society of 
their kind. Thus the vampire and spectre bats collect into 
flocks of prodigious numbers, but without any other apparent 
purpose. 

But by others there is some more distinct object had in view, 
particularly the construction of common habitations. . Such are 
the beaver, hamster, marmot, mole, and prairie dog. The num- 
bers which thus assemble together are very large. A single farmer 
in Holland caught upon his own grounds more than .five thousand 
hamsters. Their multiplication has sometimes been so great as 
to produce fears of a scarcity of grain. In a single town in 
Germany, where a premium was offered for their skins, eighty 
thousand were destroyed in one year. In our own country the 
most interesting example of this kind is in the prairie dog, 
already noticed. It is of a peaceable, accommodating, and most 
social disposition ; for General Pike assures us he has seen the 
prairie dog, the rattlesnake, the pond frog, and the land tortoise, 
all take refuge in the same hole ; to which motley company, the 
burrowing owl sometimes attaches himself. 

The nobler birds of prey are solitary in their habits, and there 
is little society among them except what grows out of their re- 
lation to their offspring. The eagle and his mate appropriate a 
particular mountain or district to themselves, building their nest 
upon its most inaccessible spot. They hunt in company ; one 
descends into the woods to frighten the small birds into the air, 
whilst the other sits upon some tree or rock to seize them as 
they rise. The vultures, on the contrary, collect in large bodies. 
Not that they prize society for its own sake. They simply col- 
lect together when the pursuit of some common object, such as 
the carcass of an animal or any collection of dead flesh, brings 
them together. Still so cowardly are they, even in large num- 



ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 351 

bers, that a single eagle will sometimes keep them at bay, while 
he is satisfying his own hunger. Mr. Wilson relates, that, when 
thousands of the dead bodies of squirrels, which had been drowned 
in attempting to cross the Ohio, had been swept on shore by an 
eddy of the river, a bald eagle was seen feasting upon them 
alone, whilst a crowd of hungry vultures were perched on the 
trees in the neighborhood, waiting, as patiently as they could, till 
he had finished his repast. 

Of other birds, a great many collect together in flocks, partly 
from the instinctive desire of the company of their kind, but 
often also for security from their enemies. This security is not 
attained by any direct combined resistance, for this would be un- 
available either against the large rapacious birds or against man. 
But, by posting a watch to give warning of danger, they are able 
to feed and sleep in comparative safety. Implicit reliance is placed 
upon the sentinels, and it has been stated, that, if unfaithful to 
their trust, their companions fall upon them and put them to death. 
In the Shetland Isles the number of sea-fowl is so great that 
their capture is made a profitable occupation, and a curious 
stratagem is employed to evade the vigilance of their sentinel. 
The hunter approaches him cautiously, keeping behind some pro- 
jecting crag, till he is very near. Then from his place of con- 
cealment he continues to throw drops of water into his face. 
Annoyed by the disagreeable sensation, which he is supposed to 
attribute to rain or the spray from the sea, he puts his head for 
protection under his wing as when going to sleep. The result 
is, that, like a man who shuts his eyes and lies down, he actually 
does sleep. The hunter at once wrings his neck, and then pro- 
ceeds to despatch his companions. 

Some of the Parrots are social and affectionate. Mr. Wilson 
relates some interesting traits of a species which inhabits the 
United States. When one of a flock is shot, they do not fly 
away, but remain, hovering around the unfortunate victim, and 
uttering cries of distress. One of them was kept in a cage, and, 
when this was hung in the open air, crowds of wild birds gath- 
ered around, and kept up with him a continual chattering. A 
second captive was introduced, to the great delight of the first. 
He was constantly at his side, caressed him, nestled close to 



352 ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 

him, and slept with his head under his wing. After a while one 
of them died. Mr. Wilson then sometimes placed a looking- 
glass by the side of the survivor, who, mistaking the image for 
his lost companion, manifested much joy, and, placing his head 
against the glass, went to sleep. 

The Passenger Pigeon of North America is perhaps the 
most remarkable of birds for the immense numbers which are 
gathered together at the period of hatching and rearing their 
young. They frequent certain tracts of country, year after 
year in succession, and build their nests in company, upon the 
trees of a particular part of the forest. From these " roosting- 
places," as they are called, they are sometimes obliged to fly fifty 
or sixty miles daily to feed. Mr. Wilson gives a graphic account 
of one of these places of resort in the State of Kentucky. He 
describes it as several miles in breadth and about forty in length. 
The birds arrive about the tenth of April and depart in the lat- 
ter part of May. As soon as they arrive, the inhabitants collect 
from all parts of the country and begin a deadly warfare upon 
them. The ground beneath the trees where they have hatched 
their eggs is strewn with leaves, branches, nests, and the young 
birds they contained. Men are employed in cutting down the 
trees for the sake of the squabs. As many as a hundred nests 
have been counted upon a single one. Droves of hogs roam 
through the woods, feasting upon those which escape the vigil- 
ance of the hunters. The branches and the air are filled with 
myriads of the parent birds, whose wings produce a roaring like 
thunder, only interrupted by the crash of falling trees. High 
above all soar numbers of kites, hawks, buzzards, and eagles, 
darting down from time to time to seize their unresisting prey. 
Every morning they started before sunrise for the Indiana Terri- 
tory, a distance of sixty miles, to feed ; from whence they began to 
return by the middle of the forenoon, and continued through the 
day. Mr. Wilson states, that, as he was travelling in their neigh- 
borhood, he saw them flying in one direction all the morning, and 
at noon beginning to return. At one o'clock, having reached a 
convenient spot for the purpose, he took out his watch to deter- 
mine how long they would be in returning. He waited a long time 
in vain. They continued to pass him in an uninterrupted mass, 



ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 353 

stretching in every direction as far as the eye could reach, and 
so thick as to darken the heavens. At four o'clock the same 
regular current was passing on, and flocks of stragglers did ciot 
cease to arrive till evening. He calculates that the number of 
this flock could not have been less than two thousand two hun- 
dred and thirty millions. 

This estimate, enormous as it is, is amply confirmed by many 
other observers of undoubted authority, especially by Audubon. 
But these numbers sink into insignificance when compared with 
those of many species of insects. Swarms of Gnats have been 
observed so large as to fill the air for miles, and to give it the 
appearance of being filled with smoke. The Locust prevails 
sometimes in such enormous numbers as to destroy the vegeta- 
tion of extensive districts of country. Within a few years, the 
master of a vessel relates that off the Western Islands he fell 
in with a field of Grasshoppers, through which he sailed for ^.ye 
days. The water was heavily crusted with them, so that they 
covered its surface to the depth of some inches, during a run of 
some four hundred miles. They were supposed to have been 
blown off the coast of Africa. 

The following account of a flight of Locusts is given by a 
recent traveller in South Africa. " We were standing in the 
middle of a plain of unlimited extent, and about five miles 
across, when I observed them advancing. On they came like a 
snow-storm, flying slow and steady, about a hundred yards from 
the ground, I stood looking at them until the air was darkened 
with their masses, while the plain on which we stood became 
densely covered with them. Far as my eye could reach, east, 
west, north, and south, they stretched in one unbroken cloud ; 
and more than an hour had elapsed before their devastating 
legions had swept by. Locusts afford fattening and wholesome 
food to man, birds, and all sorts of beasts. Cows and horses, 
lions, jackals, hyenas, antelopes, elephants, &c., devour them. 
As it was difficult to obtain sufficient food for my dogs, I and 
Isaac took a large blanket, which we spread under a bush, whose 
branches were bent to the ground with the mass of locusts which 
covered it, and, having shaken the branches, in an instant I had 
more locusts than I could carry on my back ; these we roasted 



354 ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 

for ourselves and our dogs. The cold, frosty night had rendered 
them unable to take wing till the sun had restored their powers." 

6 As Caterpillars do not produce their young till they arrive at 
the butterfly state, their associations have no respect to the rear- 
ing or education of young. Self-preservation and individual 
convenience are the only bonds of their union. A perfect equal- 
ity-reigns among them, without any distinction of sex or even 
of size. Each takes his share of the common labor ; and the 
whole society, which constitutes but one family, is the genuine 
issue of the same mother/ 

The most remarkable and perfect societies are those exhibited 
by the various species of wasps, bees, ants, and the termites, 
already described. These insects exhibit associations apparently 
as perfect in their organization, in their subordination of ranks, 
in the subdivision of labor, and in the uniform and regular com- 
bination of all the individuals for the common purposes of the 
community, as those of mankind. The principal circumstances 
which illustrate the character of these communities will be found 
under other heads, as " Habitations," "Hostilities," &c. The most 
remarkable feature to be noticed here is the nature of the gov- 
ernment which prevails, and of the relation which the individual 
bears to the whole community. Among the Honey-bees, for 
example, there is one female around whom the society concen- 
trates itself. She is the basis of their association and their 
operations. But she bears nothing of that relation which a human 
ruler bears to his people She does not govern, she does not 
direct. She is simply the mother of the family. The great 
purposes of the community are the provision of food and the 
care and raising of the young. In carrying out these purposes, 
every individual appears to act without direction, mainly from 
his own personal impulses. The queen takes no cognizance of 
his labors ; she exercises no superintendence. Yet, as she is a 
necessary agent in one of these purposes, the rest have an instinc- 
tive perception of the necessity of her presence. When she dies 
from any accident, disorder instantly prevails. No new cells are 
constructed. Neither wax nor honey is collected. There is 
nothing but confusion and anarchy, till a new sovereign is ob- 
tained. Everything then goes on as before. 



ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 355 

Societies of Ants are as remarkable and interesting as those of 
the bees, and their arrangements are even more complicated and 
various. They have been, perhaps, less perfectly studied, only 
because they are less useful to mankind. The principal circum- 
stances relating to them will be found detailed in other chapters. 
There 4s, however, one singular relation which some species of 
ants bear to other ants, and to other insects also, which is worthy 
of notice here. 

There are many insects, inhabiting certain plants, and known 
under the names of pucerons, aphides, or plant-lice, which exude 
from their bodies a peculiar fluid, in small limpid drops of a 
sweet taste. This is a favorite food of some ants, and is not 
only taken up by them when it has been deposited upon the 
leaves, but also is directly sucked up as it is produced by the an- 
imals themselves. Huber gives the following account of his first 
notice of this singular phenomenon. He watched closely the 
movements of a single ant. " I saw it at first pass several pu- 
cerons, which it did not, however, disturb. It shortly after sta- 
tioned itself near one of the smallest, and appeared to caress it, 
by touching the extremity of its body, alternately with its an- 
tennae, with an extremely rapid movement. I saw, with much 
surprise, the fluid proceed from the body of the puceron, and the 
ant take it in its mouth. Its antennae were afterward directed 
to a much larger puceron than the first, which, on being caressed 
after the same manner, discharged the nourishing fluid in greater 
quantity, which the ant immediately swallowed." This process 
it repeated on a succession of individuals, till its appetite was 
satisfied, when it returned perfectly contented to its nest. Huber 
observed the same relation to exist between ants and the gall in- 
sect ; and, so far from this supply of food being regarded as 
plunder, these insects and the ants live together on terms of the 
most perfect amity. Farther than this, societies have been ob- 
served in which the pucerons live together in the same com- 
munity with the ants, feeding themselves from the roots of 
plants, and furnishing their fellow inhabitants with the secretion 
they so much prize, and which, in some communities, constitutes 
their principal food. 

These pucerons, therefore, stand in the same relation to ants, 



356 ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 

that cows and goats do to the human race. The ants take care 
of them, guard them from being stolen by other ants, in times of 
danger convey them to a place of safety, and, in fact, regard them 
with the same jealous care that a man does his flocks and herds. 
They go even farther than this. They collect their eggs, 
transfer them to their own nests, take the same precautions 
with regard to them that they do with regard to their own, and, 
when the new animal has come to life, rear it with assiduous 
care and add it to their stock. 

A still more remarkable circumstance has been observed 
with regard to a species of ants, called, on account of their mar- 
tial character, Amazons. These sometimes constitute a commu- 
nity by themselves, all its offices being performed by individ- 
uals of the race. But in other cases they attack in large 
numbers the nests of another species, of a dark ash-color, drive 
away their inhabitants, seize upon their larvae and pupae, and con- 
vey them to their own residences. Here these are hatched and 
reared, become the property of their captors, and are the sole 
laborers of the community. They build the nests, they procure 
food, they even take all the charge of the larvae, which are from 
time to time brought in by the Amazons after their hostile ex- 
cursions. They are, in fact, reduced to the condition of slaves ; 
and from their dark color, as compared with those whom they 
serve, have been called negroes. In fact, the Amazon bears to 
them the same relation, both in condition and color, that the 
white man does to the black man whom he enslaves. There is 
this difference : — the Amazons replenish their own numbers in 
the ordinary way, there being among them, males, females, and 
neuters ; but the negroes do not breed in captivity ; only the 
neuters, or laborers, are made captive, and their number is only 
kept good by a perpetual robbery. 

Though thus systematic in their policy, it does not appear 
that the affairs of a community of ants are carried on under the 
direction of any chief. They march forth in bands, but it is like 
a horde of undisciplined barbarians, and not like regular troops, 
organized, and guided by their leaders. Each individual acts 
in concert with the others, but it is under the mysterious direc- 
tion of his own impulse, and not at the command of an ac- 



HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, ETC. 357 

knowledged master. They constitute a most absolute democ- 
racy, in which there is not even a temporary government to 
which they acknowledge submission, but where the instinctive 
subservience of each individual to the purposes of the commu- 
nity takes the place of laws that depend for their execution upon 
subordination of ranks. 



CHAPTER XV. (W.) 

OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF 
ANIMAL LIFE. 

Death is an established law of Nature, and is as necessary an 
event in the order of Nature and Providence as birth. Every 
animal sooner or later comes to the termination of its existence, 
as the result of an inevitable law of Life. Yery few, however, 
even of our own species, who have it in their power to study out 
and put in practice the best means for the prolongation of life, 
reach its natural term. A large proportion of mankind, by 
violence, want, accident, or disease, are prematurely cut off; and 
of other species a still larger proportion are sacrificed to the 
same causes, and more especially to that provision by which one 
animal becomes the food of another. 

Man is the most universal destroyer. His empire over ani- 
mals, by means of his intellect, his skill, his ingenuity, and his 
artifices, is unbounded. He subdues them to his uses as domes- 
tic slaves, and then slaughters them as food. He hunts them in 
the wild state for their skins, their hair, their fur, their teeth, 
their horns, and their flesh. He pursues and destroys them 
for his amusement. He lays each kingdom under contribution 
for his wants, his comforts, his love of gain, or his pastime. 

Next to him come the carnivorous quadrupeds, some of whom, 
live exclusively on flesh, whilst others are addicted to a mixed 
diet, and can even subsist upon vegetable productions alone. 
By their depredations, immense numbers of lives among the 
smaller tribes are daily destroyed, though the larger species, as 



358 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

the elephant and the buffalo, by no means escape their ravages. 
Among birds, the carnivorous propensity is far more universally 
diffused. Of the exclusively carnivorous, the number is not 
very large, neither is it so of the exclusively herbivorous. There 
are few species to whom worms, insects, and indeed animal food 
in many forms, does not prove a welcome repast. 

But the amount of destruction among terrestrial animals is 
small as compared with that which takes place among the in- 
habitants of the ocean. With few exceptions, these are all car- 
nivorous. The whale opens his capacious jaws, and at a single 
swallow engulfs millions of the smaller animals of which the 
waters are full. The larger fish are constantly in pursuit of the 
smaller ; while the smaller devour the spawn of the larger, as well 
as worms, mollusca, and zoophytes. Their whole life seems to be 
spent in the search for food ; and so eager is their appetite, that 
scarcely anything is rejected. With few exceptions^ they seem to 
be devoid of the parental instinct, and devour their own offspring 
as readily as anything else. 

The demand for air is so urgent, and the want of it so imme- 
diately destructive of life, that its supply has not been made de- 
pendent upon the voluntary efforts of the individual. It is not only 
universally diffused over the surface of the earth, but penetrates 
its interior, and pervades the waters also. It is not so with food, 
the deprivation of which is as certainly, though less immediately, 
fatal. Animals are led to seek for it by an appetite of the most 
imperious and irresistible nature ; and, as the necessity for it is 
constantly returning, the desire for it is so constantly present, 
that, when not asleep or interested by the sentiments and occu- 
pations connected with the production and care of their young, 
their attention appears to be mainly engaged, and their lives 
to be spent, in seeking and enjoying a supply of food. The 
desire of satisfying this one appetite seems to be the ever-pre- 
dominant feeling in every animal, so far as it is a conscious be- 
ing ; and even in those lower tribes, where the functions of life 
are carried on either without any distinct consciousness or with 
a very feeble degree of it, the same propensity governs the 
economy, even though it be not felt, or be not connected with a 
clear effort of the will. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 359 

The necessity for a regular supply of food is, therefore, one 
of the principal causes of the destruction of life, and hunger the 
most urgent of the appetites. It leads animals to brave every 
danger. When excessive, it even overpowers the love of off- 
spring ; inducing the parents to sacrifice the necessities of their 
progeny to their own, and even to devour it. Those which 
usually stand in awe of man, will then venture to attack him. 
The wolf becomes almost frantic under the pangs of hunger. All 
idea of fear is banished. He attacks companies of armed men ; 
he assails human dwellings. He is repelled only by the most de- 
termined resistance, and by a wholesale slaughter. He returns 
again and again to the assault. The eagle, in his ordinary condi- 
tion, is afraid of man, and is easily driven away even by children ; 
but, when impelled by excessive hunger, he not only seizes kids, 
lambs, goats, and the young of the reindeer, but has been known 
to attack the young of our own species. There is a tradition 
among the Swiss of a most painful occurrence connected with the 
lammergeyer, or great eagle of the Alps. A young mother, whilst 
engaged at work in the fields, laid her child down upon the 
ground, at a short distance from her. It was sleeping quietly, 
when it was suddenly pounced upon by a large eagle, and borne 
away, in its talons. In vain the poor mother pursued with fran- 
tic cries. In vain she implored aid from others. For a con- 
siderable time the screams of the helpless infant were heard 
through the air. They gradually became fainter and fainter in 
the distance, and the wretched mother saw her child no more. 
She became a maniac. 

Two little children, of five and seven years of age, were 
amusing themselves together in a wheat-field, in imitation of the 
reapers, when a large eagle came down upon them and attempted 
to seize the elder. The boy, being armed with a sickle, repelled 
the attack. The bird, though foiled, was not daunted, and, 
alighting at a short distance, soon repeated the assault. The 
courageous boy struck at him resolutely with his weapon, 
which, fortunately, entered under the wing, passed through the 
ribs, and, wounding a vital part, laid his enemy dead at his 
feet. 

Beside the immense destruction of the life of animals which 



360 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

is the result of this consumption of them as food, vast num- 
bers fall a sacrifice to other causes. Fishes, when assembled in 
large shoals near the land and in shallow waters, are driven on 
shore by the force of the winds and waves, or are crowded out 
of their element by the mere pressure of excess of numbers. 
Among the immense herds of American buffaloes, many are 
trodden under foot and destroyed, many are crowded down the 
banks of rivers, or from precipices. Thousands of squirrels are 
drowned in attempting to swim across rivers at an unfavorable 
moment. Myriads of birds fall a sacrifice to severe and un- 
timely storms. Crows have been supposed to be destroyed in 
large numbers by lightning, and in Ireland thirty-three thousand 
of these birds were found dead, in 1839, on the shores of a lake, 
in the county of Westmeath, after a violent storm. Locusts, in 
numbers so great the imagination even cannot embrace them, are 
blown into the sea, and perish by drowning, or for want of food. 
Smaller insects, that fill the air for miles in extent, perish in a 
single night, at the natural term of their existence, or by some 
unknown and untimely cause of destruction. 

"When we contemplate such an unstinted destruction, we almost 
imagine that, as its consequence, whole species must be sometimes 
struck out of existence ; but on the other hand, such is their fe- 
cundity, we find that we are equally at a loss to know how the 
due balance of numbers is preserved, where the production is so 
great and the number of individuals so much beyond our power 
to calculate. Several statements have been before made as to 
insects, fishes, birds, and even quadrupeds ; and, in addition to 
these, Captain Hamilton gives an account, equally remarkable, 
of the myriads of some of the herbivorous quadrupeds of South 
Africa : — " I was awoke from my sleep on the ground, by a noise 
as of distant thunder. On looking up, I saw the plain covered 
with dust, as if an army were engaged ; and presently the dark 
columns of countless thousands of wildebok, springbok, bless- 
bok, and other animals, charged along the plain within shot. 
They were in a dense mass of great breadth, and apparently 
extending to the horizon." 

The reproductive powers of fishes are so great tjiat, notwith- 
standing the immense numbers which are taken as food for man 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 361 

and consumed by other inhabitants of the sea, there is no dim- 
inution in their numbers.* The Bay of Naples has furnished a 
supply for a dense population upon its shores ever since the 
memory of man ; and the cod, herring, and mackerel fishery, in 
various parts of the world, have produced no apparent impres- 
sion upon the immense shoals that visit certain shores. About 
one hundred thousand persons are engaged in the Scottish herring 
fisheries, and the total produce for a year amounts to about a million 
of barrels. The depredations of man, however, are as nothing 
compared with those of the carnivorous inhabitants of the ocean. 
But though this is true of the smaller fishes, it is not so of the 
larger animals of the ocean. In those seas where whales have 
been hunted for their oil, their numbers, and the age and size of 
those taken, have diminished so sensibly that it has been neces- 
sary to explore new fields. In rivers and lakes of limited extent 
which are much resorted to, even the smaller fishes are some- 
times nearly exterminated. 

The chief actuating motive, in the examples already given of 
the destructive propensity, is the appetite for food. These, how- 
ever, by no means include all the cases of the extensive destruc- 
tion of the life of animals by the agency of other animals. The 
motive for this we can, in some cases, detect ; in others, not. 
In many, there is an independent love of contest for its own 
sake ; a disposition to fight, which seems to have no other object 
than the excitement that attends it, and the gratification of cer- 
tain passions, whose indulgence, in some natures, is attended with 
a strange species of satisfaction. Such is eminently the case 
with man, when under the dominion of his mere animal nature. 
In his state of barbarism, war, which then consisted almost en- 
tirely in personal conflict, was his chief employment, from which 
he derived his highest enjoyment, and which he regarded as the ' 
source of his greatest glory. The associations long connected 
with it, by a strange inconsistency he has continued to cherish, 
even after becoming educated, civilized, and refined ; and he does 
not yet perceive how much the passions it implies, and the means 
it requires, are at variance with the moral and religious principles 

* A cod, according to Leuwenhoek, produces nine millions of eggs in a single 
season, and other fishes a very large number. 

16 



362 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

he reverences. From the same propensity arises the interest 
taken in encounters of a cruel and revolting character, both 
among men and animals, — cock-fighting, bull-baiting, gladiatorial 
shows, pugilistic encounters, and duels. It is curious to observe 
the influence of habit in preventing a perception of the real 
character of this interest. The brutal sport of our own nation 
we regard as noble and manly, whilst that of another we readily 
see in its true light. The American and Englishman sympa- 
thize with men who meet to bruise one another with their fists, 
sometimes to the destruction of life, as champions of " the noble 
art of self-defence," but look with horror on bull-baiting, or bear- 
baiting, as a barbarous and cruel amusement, and upon the gladi- 
atorial contests of the ancients, as the result of their low state of 
civilization. Yet it would be difficult, upon the principles of an 
enlightened morality, to point out any essential difference be- 
tween them. 

Among animals are found many that display a similar pro- 
pensity, especially the dog and the cock of the domestic species, 
and various animals of the wild ; but the most striking examples 
are found among insects, and will be more particularly described 
hereafter. 

A disposition to destroy life wherever it is found, is also ob- 
served among some men and many animals, independently of any 
purpose to be answered, or any use to be made of the victims. 
We find this in the dog,* the cock, the weasel, &c. ; but in none 
is it more obvious than in certain individuals of our own species. 

* Dogs have been known to destroy vast numbers of sheep without appar- 
ently devouring any part of them, the only mark of injury being a bite in the 
throat. In other cases, they merely gratify the taste for blood by sucking a 
small portion, or confine themselves to a few mouthfuls of some delicate part. A 
dog was left by some smugglers on the coast of Northumberland, and began, in 
his state of destitution, to destroy sheep in great numbers, eating only the fat 
about the kidneys, so that numbers were required for his sustenance. His 
ravages at length rendered him the scourge of the district, and he was hunted 
a long time without success. When overtaken by the hounds, he threw him- 
self on his back, as if supplicating for mercy. In this position they never 
touched him, and on the approach of the hunters he would get up and make 
off, the hounds not following till they were again excited by their masters. His 
constant residence was upon the top of a rock, where he had a view of four 
roads leading to it. Here, after a career of bloodshed for a year, he was at 
last killed. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 363 

There is something revolting to the moral sense in the pleasure 
taken by many persons in the mere slaughter of animals, and 
those not of a noxious or offensive kind, for its own sake, under 
the pretence that it is a noble and manly exercise. Of this kind 
is the hunting of the timid with hounds and horses, which has 
not even the recommendation of adventure and danger to give it 
a manly character. Of the same nature, though less effeminate 
as a matter of taste, are the expeditions of men professing re- 
finement and civilization, to remote districts of the earth, for the 
sole object of destroying the nobler beasts of the desert, and 
with no distinct purpose except to gratify the love of destruction. 
It is an amusement which, when followed solely as such, is a 
relic of barbarous ages, still adhering to modern civilization. 
The destruction of animal life for the sake of food and clothing, or 
for the removal of races that are offensive and injurious, is per- 
fectly justifiable; but not so their destruction as a mere sport. 
Children are taught that the killing of flies, and the tormenting of 
small animals, are cruel sports. It is difficult to show in what these 
differ from the sport of hunting by grown men, as to the purpose or 
the sentiment .with which it is followed. The trade of a butcher 
is looked on as a harsh and cruel one ; but it is attended with 
less suffering to its victims than is felt by those who are made the 
subjects of the fear and terror incident to a long chase, and the 
protracted agonies of gunshot wounds, which are often only suffi- 
cient to maim, not to destroy. 

It should humble somewhat the pride of man to reflect, that he 
is most closely imitated in this unamiable propensity by races of 
insects, possessed of little voluntary intelligence, but mainly gov- 
erned by a blind, undiscriminating instinct. The communities of 
bees and ants furnish the most remarkable examples of this ten- 
dency to warfare and destruction, sometimes with and sometimes 
without any other object than the love of combat, the desire for 
victory, and the pride of success. 

In some cases there is undoubtedly a purpose in the economy 
of Nature which is answered by this destructive disposition, 
though we may not be always able to understand what it is. Of 
this sort is the war of extermination which is waged by the first 
queen bee hatched in a hive upon all those which subsequently 



364 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

come into existence. These she attacks with the most furious 
animosity, and either kills, or is killed by, her antagonists. She 
also seeks to destroy the immature queens which have not yet left 
the cell. This massacre is necessary in order that only a single 
queen may be left for each swarm ; but though this be the ultimate 
purpose, the contest is carried on with all the appearance of 
anger and animosity that only an actual hatred can inspire. Of 
the same character are the massacre of the males, or drones, which 
takes place at that season of the year when they have ceased to 
be useful members of the community, and the destruction by 
wasps of large numbers of their offspring toward the approach 
of winter. 

But furious combats take place among bees, for which no 
sufficient motive can be imagined. These sometimes occur be- 
tween different swarms, and sometimes between parties in the 
same swarm. The contest takes place in the air, which is filled 
with the combatants ; and yet, however universal the warfare 
among the inhabitants of a hive, the actual conflicts are always 
single, and the individuals engaged exhibit indications of the great- 
est fury and the most ferocious and vindictive passion. 

Communities of ants, however, afford the most wonderful in- 
stances of war on a large scale, carried on in the most systematic 
manner, and giving occasion to the most frightful slaughter. The 
following narrative describes a remarkable example of this sort. 

" In the year 1845 the shop of a watchmaker in Boston was 
infested with the common red ants. They did not appear to in- 
habit or frequent any particular spot, but were found in the tool- 
drawers, on the benches, and about the walls. As, from the 
nature of the place, food was scarce, they appeared to act in the 
capacity of scavengers, and lived upon such flies as died on the 
windows, &c. If a fly were killed, and placed upon a work- 
bench, in less than a minute the body would be surrounded by 
dozens of ants, who would in an incredibly short space of time 
carry the whole carcass away. Beyond a few experiments with 
dead flies, no attention was paid to them by the occupants of the 
shop, and no attempt made to destroy them, or to reduce their 
numbers. For a year or eighteen months they continued to infest 
the premises, attracting no special notice, except to the somewhat 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 365 

curious fact that they continued to frequent so sterile a place 
at all. 

" One morning they were observed to be in a state of unwonted 
agitation ; a violent struggle appeared to be in progress among 
the usually peaceful community. The bench at which the writer 
of this article sat was covered with groups and detached pairs 
of ants apparently engaged in deadly combat. It being supposed 
that a hostile colony had made a descent upon the old residents, 
and that they had taken the work-bench for a battle-field, search 
was made in the drawers and cupboards which they were known 
to frequent, partly to ascertain if there were any difference be- 
tween the fighting ants and those left behind, and partly, if it were 
possible, to tell the proportion of combatants to non-combatants. 
But, to the writer's astonishment, wherever they were found, in 
drawer, closet, or cupboard, they were fighting ; the strictest 
search could not discover a single stray ant ; every one was en- 
gaged in the conflict. 

" From a desire to observe the result of so singular a combat, 
a number of groups and pairs of struggling ants were placed 
upon a sheet of white paper, and a strong magnifying glass was 
brought to bear upon them. It was then seen, that each ant was 
grappled by his antagonist round the body by means of the 
four hind legs, and so firmly that no force short of tearing their 
bodies ta pieces could part them. The two fore legs, or arms, 
were used like, and very much resembled, those of wrestlers in 
a wrestling-match. Each individual seemed to try to fasten his 
fangs upon the other's shoulder or neck, and at the same time 
to prevent, with his arms, his antagonist from doing the same 
to him. If by superior strength or skill he succeeded in this, 
his hold was not relinquished until he had severed the head or 
the arm from the body. But when thus successful, the victor could 
not disengage himself from his antagonist, and, after fruitless 
struggles, died in the embrace of his victim. 

" Some appeared to be well and equally matched. Placing their 
arms against each other's heads to ward off the death-grip, they 
would remain for hours without gaining any apparent advantage, 
till one would succumb from fatigue or lack of skill, and the 
other's fangs would do their work. 



366 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

"The contest continued for more than twenty-four hours, 
when, every combatant appearing to be dead, they were collected 
from the benches and drawers to the amount of nearly a gill by 
measurement. A live ant has never been seen in the shop since. 

" For years afterwards it was not unusual, in removing papers, 
&c. in neglected corners, to find dead ants, but always clenched 
together as in their last struggle." * 

In this contest no definite purpose is discoverable. So far as 
it can be understood, it seems to have been merely an exhibition 
of the pugnacious propensity on the part of those engaged, in this 
respect resembling too many of the wars waged by our own race. 
There is not even any evidence that it occurred between the 
members of two distinct societies, though probably this might 
have been the case. In other instances, according to the obser- 
vations of Huber, battles take place between large communities, 
inhabiting distinct residences, sometimes of the same and some- 
times of different species. The weapons used are chiefly the arms 
and mandibles, but some species employ in addition a sting with 
which they are armed. They are capable also of emitting a poi- 
sonous liquid, and this they pour upon each other. For the most 
part they fight in pairs, as described in the preceding account, but 
occasionally a third comes to the aid of his fellow-countryman, 
and sometimes several are concerned in a common struggle. 

The following account, given by Huber, furnishes a specimen 
of these remarkable contests. "If we wish to behold regular 
armies, war in all its forms, we must visit those forests in which 
the fallow ants establish their dominion over every insect in 
their territory. We shall there see populous and rival cities ; 
regular roads passing from the ant-hill as so many rays from a 
centre, and frequented by an immense number of inhabitants ; and 
wars between hordes of the same species, for they are naturally 
enemies and jealous of the territory which borders their own 
capital. It is in these forests I have witnessed the inhabitants 
of two large ant-hills engaged in spirited combats. I cannot pre- 
tend to say what occasioned discord between these republics. 

* This remarkable account was furnished by Mr. Z. A. Willard, of Boston, 
upon whose good faith, and accuracy of observation and description, entire reli- 
ance may be placed. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 367 

They were composed of ants of the same species, were alike in 
their extent and population, and were situated about a hundred 
paces distant from each other. Two empires could not possess a 
greater number of combatants. 

" Let us figure to ourselves this prodigious crowd of insects, 
covering the ground lying between the two ant-hills, and occupy- 
ing a space of two feet in breadth. The two armies met half- 
way from their respective habitations, and then the battle com- 
menced. Thousands of ants took their station upon the highest 
ground and there fought in pairs, keeping firm hold of their antag- 
onists with their mandibles. A considerable number were engaged 
in the attack and in leading away prisoners. The latter made sev- 
eral ineffectual efforts to escape, as if aware that upon their arrival 
at the camp they would experience a cruel death. The scene of 
warfare occupied a space about three feet square ; a penetrating 
odor exhaled from all sides ; numbers of dead ants were seen 
covered with venom. Those ants that composed groups and chains 
took hold of each other's legs and pincers, and dragged their 
antagonists on the ground. These groups formed successively. 
The fight usually commenced between two ants, who seized each 
other with their mandibles, and raised themselves upon their hind 
legs, to allow of their bringing the abdomen forward, and spirt- 
ing venom upon their adversary. They were frequently so 
closely wedged together that they fell upon their sides, and fought 
a long time in that situation, in the dust ; they afterward 
raised themselves, when each began dragging its adversary ; but 
when their forces were equal, the wrestlers remained immov- 
able, and fixed each other to the ground, until a third came to 
decide the contest. It more commonly happened that both re- 
ceived assistance at the same time, when the whole four, keeping 
firm hold of a foot or antenna, made ineffectual attempts to gain 
the battle. Other ants joined them, and these were in their turn 
seized by new comers. It was in this way they formed chains 
of six, eight or ten ants, all firmly locked together; the equilib- 
rium being broken only when several warriors from the same 
republic advanced at the same time, who compelled those that 
were enchained to let go their hold, when the single combats 
again took place. On the approach of night, each party returned 



368 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

gradually to the city which served for an asylum. The ants 
which were either killed or led away into captivity not being re- 
placed by others, the number of combatants diminished, until their 
forces were exhausted. 

u The ants returned to the field of battle before dawn. The 
groups again formed ; the carnage recommenced with greater fury 
than on the preceding evening, and the scene of combat occupied 
a space of six feet in length by two in breadth. Success was 
for a long time doubtful ; about mid-day the contending armies 
had removed about the distance of a dozen feet from one of their 
cities, whence I concluded some ground had been gained. 

" The common operations of the two colonies were not sus- 
pended during this warfare ; the paths which led to a distance 
in the forest were as much thronged as in a time of peace, and 
all around the ant-hill order and tranquillity prevailed, with the 
exception only of that side on which the battle was raging. A 
crowd of insects was constantly seen to be setting off for the 
scene of combat, while others were returning with their pris- 
oners. This war terminated without any disastrous results to 
the two republics ; long continued rains shortened its duration, 
and our warriors ceased to frequent the road which led to the 
camp of the enemy. 

" It is a remarkable circumstance that the combatants are able 
always to distinguish those which are of their own party. How 
and by what sign do they distinguish their compatriots, in a con- 
test in which thousands of individuals of the same color, of the 
same size, of the same odor, and of the same species, meet, 
attack, or defend themselves, inundate their adversaries with 
venom, and lead away prisoners ? They sometimes attack those 
of their own party ; but on recognizing them immediately relax 
their hold. It often happens that those who are the objects of 
this temporary error caress their compatriots, and readily appease 
their anger." 

A still more striking illustration of this power of recognizing 
the inhabitants of the same community is related by the same 
author. " I took," says he, " in the month of April, an ant-hill 
from the woods, for the purpose of peopling my large glazed 
apparatus ; but, having more ants than I had occasion for, I gave 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 369 

liberty to a considerable number in the garden of the house 
where I lived. The latter fixed their abode at the foot of a 
chestnut tree. The former became the subject of some private 
observations. I noticed them four months, without allowing them 
to quit my study ; at this time, wishing to bring them nearer to a 
state of nature, I carried the ruche [apparatus] into the garden, 
and placed it at ten or fifteen paces from the natural ant-hill. 
Some of the prisoners, profiting by my negligence in not renew- 
ing the water which blockaded their passage, escaped, and ran 
about the environs of their abode. The ants established near the 
chestnut tree met and recognized their former companions, fell to 
mutual caresses with their antennae, took them up with their man- 
dibles, and led them to their own nests ; they came presently in a 
crowd to seek the fugitives, under and about the artificial ant- 
hill, and even ventured to reach the bell-glass, where they effected 
a complete desertion, by carrying away successively all the ants 
they found there. In a few days the ruche was depopulated. 
These ants had remained four months without any Communica- 
tion." 

Wars also take place of a still more singular character be- 
tween certain species, the investigation of which has brought to 
light some very curious relations between them, of which a 
general account has been given in the preceding chapter. The 
rufesceni ants, or as they are called by Huber, Amazons, employ 
those of another kind, the ash-colored or Negro ants, as servants 
or slaves. They live together in the same community, the 
Amazons acting as soldiers and performing other offices abroad, 
the negroes remaining at home employed in the internal duties 
of the establishment. The negroes, however, are not enslaved 
in their fully developed condition. In this state it is probable 
they could never be domesticated. They are seized by the Ama- 
zons in the state of larvae, are conveyed to their habitations, and 
there undergo their final metamorphosis. None but neuters are 
thus appropriated. They do not breed in the state of servitude, 
but their numbers are kept good by perpetual expeditions of their 
masters, in which the communities of ash-colored ants are robbed. 

A full account is given by Huber of a number of these preda- 
tory excursions. His first observation of them is described in the 
16* 



370 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS AND 

following words. " On the 17th of June, 1804, whilst walking in 
the environs of Geneva, between four and five in the evening, I 
observed close at my feet, traversing the road, a legion of rufes- 
cent ants. They moved in a body with considerable rapidity, 
and occupied a space of from eight to ten inches in length by 
three or four in breadth. In a few minutes they quitted the 
road, passed a thick hedge, and entered a pasture ground where 
I followed them. They wound along the grass without straggling, 
and their column remained unbroken, notwithstanding the ob- 
stacles they had to surmount ; at length they approached a nest, 
inhabited by ash-colored ants, the dome of which rose above the 
grass at a distance of twenty feet from the hedge. Some of its 
inhabitants were guarding the entrance ; but, on the discovery of 
an approaching army, they darted forth upon the advanced guard. 
The alarm spread at the same moment in the interior, and their 
companions came forth in numbers from their underground resi- 
dence. The rufescent ants, the bulk of whose army lay only at 
the distance of two paces, quickened their march to arrive at the 
foot of the ant-hill ; the whole battalion, in an instant, fell upon 
and overthrew the ash-colored ants, or negroes, who after a short 
but obstinate conflict retired to the bottom of their nest. The 
rufescent ants now ascended the hillock, collected in crowds on 
the summit, and took possession of the principal avenues, leaving 
some of their companions to work an opening in the side of the 
ant-hill with their teeth. Success crowned their enterprise, and 
by the newly-made breach the remainder of the army entered. 
Their sojourn, however, was of short duration, for in three or 
four minutes they returned by the same aperture which gave 
them entrance, each bearing off in its mouth a larva or pupa ; 
they retraced the route by which they had arrived, and pro- 
ceeded one after another, without order or regularity. The 
whole army might be readily distinguished in the grass, by the 
contrast afforded by the rufescent ants and the white eggs and 
pupas they had captured." 

There is another species, the Mining ants, that are made 
captives and enslaved in the same way by the rufescent ants or 
Amazons. But those are a more courageous and spirited race 
than the ash-colored, and offer a more determined resistance. In 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 371 

carrying off their booty from the negroes, as in the above instance, 
the army observes no order, but separates into straggling parties, 
each hastening by the easiest route to deposit their spoil in their 
common depository. When, however, they return successful 
from an attack "upon a nest of the mining ants, they proceed with 
greater caution, keep close order, and march in a body to the 
very gates of their citadel ; and it not unfrequently happens that 
they are followed and harassed the whole way by those they 
have robbed, who make strenuous exertions to recover their lost 
treasure. 

On their return home after these excursions, they are met by 
the negroes, who have been left alone in charge of the nest. These 
caress them, furnish them with food, and relieve them of the larvae, 
which they convey away into a suitable place, where they after- 
wards take the entire charge of them. The Amazons subse- 
quently take no notice of them whatever, never deigning even 
to lift them, or, indeed, to bear any part in the labors going for- 
ward in the interior of their citadel. 

By another species, the Sanguine ants, similar enterprises 
are undertaken, but conducted in a somewhat different manner. 
They attack the habitations of the same kinds of ants as the 
former, that is, the negroes and the miners. Huber gives the fol- 
lowing account of one of these expeditions. " At ten in a morn- 
ing in. July, I observed a small body sally forth from their 
formicary, and march rapidly to a neighboring residence of 
negro ants, around which they dispersed themselves. The 
inhabitants rushed out in crowds, attacked them, and took 
several prisoners ; the remainder paused, but, being soon rein- 
forced by new arrivals, advanced nearer the besieged city, and 
at length assembled in great numbers before it. The negroes, 
coming out of their habitations, formed themselves into a body 
about two feet square, in front of them. The general conflict 
was preceded by several skirmishes. At last the actual battle 
was begun by the negroes ; but, before success appeared to incline 
to either party, the pupge — the object of the incursion — were 
carried off, and heaped up on the side of the nest opposite to 
that where the attack was made. The young females also fled 
to the same quarter. At last by a vigorous assault the negroes 



372 HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND 

are defeated, but still strive to preserve the objects of their 
care; this, however, is prevented, and the assailants carry off 
the young brood to their own nest. A continued chain of ants 
employed in this work extends from one city to the other till the 
whole is completed. Sometimes the conquerors, leaving their 
own habitation, take possession of that from which they have 
driven the rightful possessors." 

The captives thus made become part of the community into 
which they have been introduced. They are exposed to no op- 
pression or hardship or ill treatment. Their condition is probably 
very much the same that it would have been in their native abode. 
They are employed in various laborious occupations, — in making 
necessay repairs of the common habitation, in collecting food, in at- 
tending and feeding the females, and in performing various offices 
for the security and regular development of the eggs, larvae, and 
pupae. They also feed and carry about their masters, who take 
no part in any laborious employment, but, though so enterprising 
and active in predatory excursions, are at other times entirely 
devoid of industry and energy, and depend upon these slaves for 
food, and for motion from place to place. They are, indeed, in all 
the ordinary economy of life, the subjects rather than the rulers ; 
and, singular as it may seem, when left entirely to themselves 
and deprived of the services of their slaves, they have been 
known to perish from absolute want. 

This account is, however, only strictly true of the rufescent 
ants ; the sanguine, though availing themselves of the same ser- 
vices from the subordinate species, are less indolent and helpless, 
and take some interest in the responsibilities and labors of the set- 
tlement. In some instances this is even the case with the rufes- 
cent, especially at the first foundation of a new society. The 
influence of circumstances and of education in modifying the 
instinctive tendencies of these animals is shown by the curious 
fact mentioned by Huber, that the pupae of both these species 
being placed together by him in an artificial formicary, under 
the charge of a number of negroes, arrived at the perfect state 
together, and lived in the same habitation in perfect amity. 

There are some other curious circumstances in the economy 
of these wonderful animals, which, although not strictly falling 



THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE. 373 

within the subject of this chapter, are yet so well calculated to 
illustrate the same general points of character, that they will be 
best introduced here. The following narrative of Huber relates to 
the species denominated the Fallow ants, and details, not a battle 
between them, but a contest apparently friendly, and of the same 
nature as the various games and sports among mankind, and also 
among the young of many animals. " I visited, one day, one of 
their ant-hills, exposed to the sun and sheltered from the north ; 
the ants were heaped upon one another in great numbers, and 
appeared to enjoy the temperature upon the surface of the nest. 
None of them were at work. This immense multitude of insects 
presented the appearance of a liquid in the state of ebullition, 
upon which the eye had some difficulty in resting ; but when I 
examined the conduct of each ant, I saw them approach each 
other, moving their antennae with astonishing rapidity. With 
slight movements of their fore feet they patted the lateral part 
of the head of the other ants. After these first gestures, which 
resembled caresses, they were observed to raise themselves on 
their hind legs by pairs, struggle together, seize each other by a 
mandible, foot, or antenna, and then immediately relax their 
hold to recommence the attack. They fastened on the thorax 
or abdomen, embraced and overthrew each other, then raised 
themselves by turns, taking their revenge without doing any 
mischiefr They did not spirt forth their venom, as in their 
combats, nor retain their adversary with that obstinacy which 
we observe in their serious quarrels. They presently abandoned 
the ants they had seized, and endeavored to lay hold of others. 
I saw some who were so eager in these exercises, that they pur- 
sued successively several workers, and struggled with them a 
few moments, the combat only terminating when the least animat- 
ed, having overthrown his antagonist, succeeded in escaping and 
hiding in one of the galleries. I frequently visited this ant-hill, 
which almost always presented me the same spectacle, but I never 
saw any quit it wounded or maimed." 

According to Dr. Livingston, there is in South Africa a spe- 
cies of red ant, which exists in great numbers and is remarkable 
for its ferocity. They are frequently met with in numbers like a 
small army. At a little distance they appear as a brownish red 



374 DURATION OF LIFE. 

band, two or three inches wide, stretched across the path, all 
eagerly pressing in one direction. If a person treads upon them 
they rush up his legs in great numbers, and seem almost at once 
to attack every part of his person, biting with great fury, and 
their bites being like sparks of fire. They not only bite, but twist 
themselves round after the mandibles are inserted, so as to in- 
crease the torture, and their unfortunate victim becomes almost 
beside himself with anguish. They have no fear, attacking with 
equal ferocity the largest as well as the smallest animals. When 
any person has leaped over them, numbers rush from the ranks, 
seeming anxious for a fight. They are especially fond of flesh, 
and are of service in destroying the carcasses of animals, and in 
clearing any human habitations they may visit of the white ants 
and other vermin. Even living animals are not always safe from 
their destructive propensity. 



* CHAPTER XVL (W.^ 

DURATION OF LIFE. 

As the life of every organized being begins by conception and 
birth, so it ends by death and decay. There is no escape from 
this universal law. If the beginning of life, if the introduction 
of a new being is mysterious, the end of life, the destruction of 
this being, is equally so. We can conceive neither how a new 
agency should come into creation, nor how it should go out. 

The whole of the existence of an organized being is a series 
of changes. It is not at any two consecutive periods precisely 
the same. This is not only true of the materials of which it is 
composed, it is also true of the law by which its organization is 
maintained. Though this law has always essentially a uniform 
character and tendencies, its force, and its relation to the econo- 
my that it governs, are constantly varying. Yet we can see no 
connection between the successive steps of this changing exist- 



DURATION OF LIFE. 375 

ence. No one of them seems necessarily to lead to that which fol- 
lows. There is nothing in the caterpillar to foretell the butterfly, 
nothing in the egg to foretell the chick, nothing in the infant 
to foretell the man. There is nothing in the full-grown man 
that would lead" us to anticipate death and decay. Experience 
has taught us the inevitable fact ; we have learned habitually to 
associate the steps of the process together ; it has become famil- 
iar as a necessary truth, till, like all mysteries that are familiar, 
it seems to have become intelligible. 

When, apart from the associations of experience, we think of a 
human body in the full activity of its functions, and supplied with 
all that is necessary to their performance, we can see no reason 
why it should not exist and act for ever. It is often deemed suf- 
ficient to say that the body, like a machine, wears out by long 
use ; that, though repaired after a fashion, the repair is imperfect, 
and that in the lapse of time it must necessarily give out. But, 
except in the way of a very limited illustration of some of the 
conditions of life, we are not machines. We are not governed, 
nor repaired, like machines ; we do not come to an end like them. 
The comparison is a convenient one, if its application be limited 
to those points only which it really illustrates. We speak famil- 
iarly of the wear and tear of the system, as of the wear and tear 
of a machine ; and as a figure of speech this is allowable, and is 
suggestive. But there is no real resemblance between the pro- 
cesses in the two cases ; and we deceive ourselves when we are 
led to conceive of things as similar in all their conditions, and 
reason from one to the other, when in fact they are only similar 
in a single particular. If indeed every part of a machine were 
repaired as fast as it gives way, if its parts were renewed when 
they become imperfect, if it were moved by a power which is 
the result of its own activity, its similarity to a living body would 
be more complete, and we can see no reason why either should 
cease to exist and to move. 

If then, we examine a living body at any one moment of its 
existence, or even watch it through a considerable period, we 
cannot conceive why time or use should destroy it ; why it may 
not, like a rock or a crystal, endure indefinitely, so far as any 
element of destruction exists within itself. Of violent or acci- 



376 DURATION OF LIFE. 

dental destruction from external causes we can conceive 5 as of 
the disintegration of a rock, or the solution of a crystal ; but, in 
these cases, we know that no power proper to the existence of 
the object has been destroyed ; whereas of natural dissolution, 
involving the extinction of the power which has kept up the or- 
ganization, we can form no definite idea. 

Explanations like the following are often given of the effects 
of time, and of the consequent natural termination of existence 
by death. ' When we advance in years, the bones harden, the 
muscles become stiff, the cartilages are converted into bones, the 
membranes into cartilages, the stomach and bowels lose their 
tone, and the whole fabric, instead of being soft, flexible, and 
obedient to the inclinations, or even the commands of the mind, 
becomes rigid, inactive, and feeble. These are the general pro- 
gressive causes of death, and they are common to all animals.' 
' Beside accidental diseases, which are more frequent as well as 
more dangerous in the latter period of life, old men are subjected 
to natural infirmities that originate solely from a decay of the 
different parts of the body. The muscles lose their tone, the 
head shakes, the hands tremble, the limbs totter, the sensibility 
of the nerves becomes blunted, the cavities of the vessels con- 
tract, the secretory organs are obstructed, the blood, the lymph, 
and other fluids extra vasate, and produce all those symptoms 
which are commonly ascribed to a vitiation of the humors.' 
It is hardly necessary to say that these are only statements of 
the phenomena which attend age and death, and, in no sense, of 
their cause. They no more afford an explanation of the con- 
dition of age, than the opposite state of the organization affords 
one of the condition of infancy. In each stage of life these phe- 
nomena are consequences, not causes. Why this gradual change 
of organization between infancy and age ? Why these progres- 
sive changes according to a law, which, if it were like other 
known laws of Nature, should be uniform in its operation, and 
consequently uniform in its results ? Instead of a power which 
is constant and equal in its action, we here have one which is 
constant only in its inequality. 

The theory which, so far as it goes, best explains the phe- 
nomena to which we allude, as well as all others relating to life, 



DURATION OF LIFE. 377 

conceives of Life as a power lying within common or inorganic 
matter, and essentially distinct from those powers that govern it 
when life is not in it, Tbut using that matter as material out of 
which to construct the forms in which life itself resides. It re- 
gards Individual Life as the cause of organization, and not as 
its result. If, on the other hand, organization be only the effect 
of a peculiar arrangement of matter, brought about by a new 
relation of its ordinary powers, of which the individual life is the 
result, we encounter at once a departure from all the laws accord- 
ing to which those powers have been uniformly known to oper- 
ate. Their essential characteristics have been constancy and 
equality. If organization be the work of common matter alone, 
it should follow the laws of common matter, and be constant and 
equal. This statement undoubtedly opens into the great ques- 
tion which has divided the opinions of philosophers ever since 
the birth of human thought, — that of the separate natures of 
soul and body ; for all arguments which apply to life as a cause 
or as a result, apply with the same force to mind. The discus- 
sion of this question would be out of place here ; and it is 
merely mentioned on account of its connection with the explana- 
tion of the changing phenomena of organic, as contrasted with 
the unchanging phenomena of inorganic matter. 

We can only conceive, therefore, of individual life as a power, 
in each ease, definite in character, limited in amount, operat- 
ing for a certain time, producing its results in a certain order, 
gradually exhausted by its own operation, and then, by a law of 
its own nature, ceasing to operate. Life does not cease because 
the organism in which it resides ceases to be fit for its tenancy ; 
the organism becomes unfit because Life has ceased to be able 
to maintain it. This point may be safely illustrated by the 
analogy of a machine. Life is not a perennial stream from a 
perennial fountain, but a current flowing from a reservoir of defi- 
nite capacity. Its force is greatest at first, and diminishes as it 
becomes exhausted. It turns a machine that repairs itself, but 
whose power of repair and action depends upon the force of the 
current ; whilst the rapidity with which the reservoir is exhausted 
depends upon the amount of power which is required to support 
the degree of activity with which the machine is worked. The 



378 DURATION OF LIFE. 

motion is maintained by a constantly diminishing force till the 
supply is exhausted, and then it ceases with the cessation of its 
cause. But, before this takes place, the* machinery may be ren- 
dered incapable of performing its task by violence or imperfect 
repair. 

This illustration does not prove, but explains, the most proba- 
ble theory of the progressive changes and limited duration of life. 
Life is most vigorous in infancy, — for the frailness of the tenure 
of infant life is explicable by distinct causes, — and becomes regu- 
larly less and less vigorous as time goes on. It is exhausted with 
different degrees of rapidity according to various circumstances. 
The body undergoes a succession of changes in its organization, 
and gradually becomes less and less fit for the due performance of 
its functions, and ceases to exist, either prematurely from this cause, 
or at last by the entire exhaustion of the powers with which its 
existence began. It is seldom that life is prolonged to its utmost 
possible term. External influences and modes of life are con- 
stantly interfering to impair the integrity of our organs ; and few 
men live so long as their actual amount of vitality would have 
enabled them. In such premature death, there is usually found 
some such change in the structure as is incompatible with the 
continuance of its functions. But in those who die in extreme 
old age, when life goes out like an expiring candle, without dis- 
ease, there is no such change of organization merely, as renders 
death inevitable. The fountain is exhausted, the spring has 
uncoiled, the weight has run down, and a cause, which before 
would have hardly impeded the movements of the machine, now 
arrests them. 

But, whatever be the truth upon these speculative points, the 
duration of life, as a matter of fact, is always a subject of interest ; 
and mankind are anxious to have it determined, not only how long 
it is possible for them to live, but what are the circumstances which 
promote longevity. With regard to the first point, the possible 
length of life, we can only form a judgment by referring to the 
facts which have been recorded during the historic ages, as these 
only can be applicable to the condition and constitution of man 
as he at present exists. Within these ages there is no reason to 
believe that the term of life has essentially varied. The touching 



DURATION OF LIFE. 379 

words of the Psalmist are probably as true now as when they 
were uttered nearly three thousand years ago : — " The days of 
our years are threescore years and ten ; and if by reason of 
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and 
sorrow." This now, as it was then, is the lot of humanity ; and 
with most of those who exceed this period, the continuance is no 
boon to them, and affords to those around them only the painful 
spectacle of infirmity, imbecility, and decay. 

Yet there have, in all ages, been instances of those who have 
exceeded this limit ; and in some the faculties both of body and 
of mind have been remarkably retained. The earliest authentic 
record of such examples is found in Pliny's Natural History, and 
is given by Lord Bacon in the following words. " The year of 
our Lord seventy-six, falling into the time of Vespasian, is memo- 
rable ; in which we shall find, as it were, a calendar of long-lived 
men ; for that year there was a taxing (now a taxing is the most 
authentical and truest informer touching the ages of men) ; and 
in that part of Italy which lieth between the Apennine moun- 
tains and the river Po, there were found one hundred and twenty- 
four persons that either equalled or exceeded an hundred years of 
age." Among these, four had attained the age of one hundred 
and thirty years ; four the age of one hundred and thirty-six ; 
three, of one hundred and forty ; and in a town on the Adriatic, 
Ariminum (Rimini), one had lived one hundred and fifty years. 
In modern times, in the empire of Russia, according to official re- 
turns, in the year 1828 there were eight hundred and twenty- 
eight centenarians, of whom forty had exceeded one hundred 
and twenty years ; fifteen, one hundred and thirty years ; nine, 
one hundred and thirty-six years ; and three, one hundred and 
thirty-eight years. According to the same authority, in the year 
1830, one person died at the age of one hundred and fifty, and in 
the year 1844, one aged one hundred and fifty-three years. There 
are statements of a longevity in the same country even greater 
than this, but upon less trustworthy authority, — as of one hun- 
dred and eighty years, and even more. In the state of New 
Hampshire, between the years 1810 and 1820, in a population 
averaging about 225,000, there died twenty-nine centenarians, of 
whom several had reached the age of one hundred and five, and 



380 DURATION OF LIFE. 

seven the ages, respectively, of one hundred and six, one hundred 
and seven, one hundred and eight, one hundred and ten, one hun- 
dred and fifteen, one hundred and sixteen, and one hundred and 
twenty years. 

Of individual instances, we find in England those of Henry 
Jenkins, who died in 1670 at the age of one hundred and sixty- 
nine ; of Thomas Parr, at the age of one hundred and fifty-two, 
in 1635; and of others, at one hundred and forty, one hundred 
and fifty, and one hundred and fifty-two. In America, the best 
attested and the most interesting case of longevity is that of Henry 
Francisco, of which the following account was published by Pro- 
fessor Silliman of Yale College, nearly forty years ago. 

" He believes himself to be one hundred and thirty-four years 
old, and the country around believe him to be of this great age. 
When we arrived at his residence (a plain farmer's house, not 
painted, rather out of repair, and much open to the wind), he was 
up stairs, at his daily work of spooling and winding yarn. This 
occupation is auxiliary to that of his wife, who is a weaver ; and 
although more than eighty years old, she weaves six yards a day, 
and the old man can supply her with more yarn than she can 
weave. Supposing he must be very feeble, we offered to go up 
stairs to him ; but he soon came down, walking somewhat stoop- 
ing, and supported by a staff, but with less apparent inconven- 
ience than most persons exhibit at eighty-five or ninety. His 
stature is of the middle size, and, although his person is rather 
delicate and slender, he stoops but little, even when unsupported. 
His complexion is very fair and delicate, and his expression 
bright, cheerful, and intelligent ; his features are handsome, and, 
considering that they have endured through one third part of a 
second century, they are regular, comely, and wonderfully undis- 
figured by the hand of time ; his eyes are of a lively blue ; his 
profile is Grecian, and very fine ; his head is completely covered 
with the most beautiful and delicate white locks imaginable ; they 
are so long and abundant as to fall gracefully from the crown of 
his head, parting regularly from a central point, and reaching 
down to his shoulders ; his hair is perfectly snow-white, except 
where it is thick in his neck ; when parted there, it shows some 
few dark shades, the remnants of a former century. He still 



DURATION OF LIFE. 381 

retains the front teeth of his upper jaw ; his mouth has not fallen 
in like that of old people generally, and his lips, particularly, are 
like those of middle life; his voice is strong and sweet-toned, 
although a little tremulous ; his hearing very little impaired, so 
that a voice of usual strength, with distinct articulation, enables 
him to understand ; his eyesight is sufficient for his work, and he 
distinguishes large print, such as the title-page of the Bible, with- 
out glasses ; his health is good, and has always been so, except 
that he has now a cough and expectoration." 

It appeared from his account of himself, which was consistent 
and intelligible, and confirmed by collateral historical facts, that 
his father was a French Protestant, who fled from France in 
the latter part of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, in conse- 
quence of the persecutions arising from the revocation of the 
edict of Nantz ; that he took refuge in Holland, and afterwards in 
England ; that Francisco himself was born in the year 1686; that 
he recollects his emigration from France in 1691, and the corona- 
tion of Queen Anne in 1702, at which time he says he was sixteen 
years old. He fought in all Queen Anne's wars, and exhibits the 
scars of many wounds, but only recollects the name of the Duke 
of Marlborough, among the commanders under whom he served. 
He came out with his father to New York early in the last 
century, though he cannot remember the date, and was engaged 
in most of. the wars which occurred until that of the Revolution. 
" He has had two wives and twenty-one children ; the youngest 
child is the daughter in whose house he lives, and she is fifty-two 
years old ; of course he was eighty-two when she was born." " He 
has been all his life a very active and energetic, although not a 
stout-framed, man. He was formerly fond of spirits, and did, for 
a certain period, drink more than was proper ; but that habit 
appears to have been long abandoned. In other respects he has 
been remarkably abstemious, eating but little, and particularly 
abstaining, almost entirely, from animal food ; his favorite articles 
being tea, bread and butter, and baked apples. His wife said, 
that^fter such a breakfast he would go out and work till noon; 
then dine upon the same, if he could get it, and then take the 
same at night ; and particularly, that he always drank tea, when- 
ever he could obtain it, three cups at a time, three times a day." 



382 DURATION OF LIFE. 

Of the duration of the life of animals our knowledge is 
necessarily less exact. In the Mammalia, it has been supposed 
to bear some definite proportion to the period of their arrival 
at the perfect development of their structure. Although no 
exact relation of this kind has been established, some such cor- 
respondence may be found to exist in many cases, and animals 
which come early to maturity, perish young. Thus the elephant 
grows for thirty years, and lives nearly two hundred ; whilst the 
horse, after arriving at his full size in four or five years, rarely 
lives to twenty-five ; and the dog> whose growth terminates in 
two or three years, lives only ten or twelve. Among individuals 
of our race there is observed some tendency to the same result ; 
those who arrive at the full development of their bodies at an 
early age are less likely to live long than others. 

In Birds, there seems to be no indication of a. similar rule. 
They come to maturity in a shorter time than Mammalia, and 
yet their lives are, in many cases, longer. The raven has been 
known to live a century ; the goose to attain nearly the same 
age, and the swan a still greater ; and an eagle died within a 
few years, in Vienna, which was stated to have, been in confine- 
ment a hundred and four years. All such accounts, however, 
are to be received with much allowance. The difficulty of ascer- 
taining the truth is great ; and the tendency to exaggerate with 
regard to such subjects is well known. 

In Reptiles and Fishes, there is reason to believe that life, in 
some species at least, may be extended through a much longer 
period than in warm-blooded animals. Tortoises have been found 
with dates marked upon their shells indicating that they had ar- 
rived at their full growth more than a century before the time of 
their capture. Still it is most likely there is no general difference 
in this respect between the warm-blooded and the cold-blooded ani- 
mals, but that, as in the case of plants, there are those whose ex- 
istence is very short, as well as those in which it is very long. 
We have as yet no such exact means of determining the age of 
any animal as we have of trees, some of which furnish indubita- 
ble evidence of an existence and growth of many thousand years. 

The life of Insects is short, and even of this short life a con- 
siderable portion is often passed in a state of inactivity. In 



DUEATION OF LIFE. 383 

their fully developed condition many of them live but a few 
days, or even but a few hours ; and few of them beyond a single 
season. When life is prolonged, as in the seventeen-years 
locust, there is no extension of active and conscious existence, 
but only of the state of torpidity, — an extension like that re- 
corded of frogs and toads inclosed in rocks or trunks of trees, 
of dried animals, and of those embedded in ice. There is no 
proper prolongation, but simply a suspension, of life. The 
amount of vitality assigned to each individual is not then drawn 
upon, and is therefore not exhausted. The condition is like that 
of the seed or of the egg, when removed from the causes of ger- 
mination as well as of decomposition. Secluded as they are from 
heat, light, air, and moisture, there would seem to be no neces- 
sary limit to the continuance of this condition of latent life in 
those organized bodies that are capable of enduring it at all. 

It would be interesting to determine how far this singular fact 
with regard to the extension of the term of existence in lower 
animals may have any bearing upon the circumstances that 
promote a similar extension of the life of man ; how far, for exam- 
ple, habits of life and other causes, that increase the activity of 
our functions, and thus occasion a more rapid exhaustion of the 
original stock of vitality, may tend to hasten the period of a 
natural dissolution. There are many things we observe in the 
lives of mankind that render such a tendency probable ; and it 
may be remarked as a general truth, that those who are exposed 
to many causes which we know to be exhausting and depressing, — 
to causes which produce great and disproportioned activity of the 
functions, — or those who in any way live fast, seldom attain to 
advanced age. It would be impossible in a limited space to 
point out all the circumstances which tend to establish this gen- 
eral proposition. It will be sufficient here to point out those 
which experience indicates as, upon the whole, favorable to long 
life. 

Upon this subject prevalent opinions are very vague, and are 
liable to be founded upon the observation of special instances. 
If any peculiarity has been noticed in the habits of a centena- 
rian, this is apt to be seized and dwelt upon as the probable 
cause of his longevity. One old man, for example, is found to 



384 DURATION OF LIFE. 

have been an early riser, another a late riser ; one to have 
drunk nothing but water, and others largely of tea, or milk, or 
rum ; one to have been very cleanly, and another the opposite. 
But it is usually difficult to find, upon a careful examination, 
any single and distinct thing in an aged person which explains 
why he should have lived longer than his neighbors. Probably 
long life is to be attained by the avoidance of causes which 
tend to shorten it, rather than by availing ourselves of those 
which can have a direct influence to lengthen it. These causes 
are undoubtedly many; and as they may have operated very 
gradually, and at an early period of life, as well as through 
its whole course, a thorough analysis of them and of their 
mode of operation is a very difficult, not to say an impossible, 
task, and we must content ourselves with a very general and 
also imperfect account of the subject. 

There is much in hereditary disposition, and also in the ten- 
dency of individual constitutions to longevity. Still what is 
commonly called a strong constitution, one which insures uniform 
robust health and freedom from disease, is not always indicative 
of a tendency to long life. This depends mainly upon the rate 
at which the capital of life is spent ; and it may be spent more rap- 
idly by many habits not inconsistent with generally good health, 
than by some habitual diseases. This is a distinction important 
to be made. There is an imperfect condition of many of the 
functions, producing a constant succession of ailments, and there 
are even certain diseases of frequent occurrence, which do not 
appear at all to diminish the resources of the system, — perhaps 
even, sometimes, to preserve them. Thus many persons whose 
health has always been feeble survive to a great age. This is 
partly, no doubt, because such persons have always lived with 
great care, and have run into no excess or hurtful indulgence. 
On the contrary, others, who have enjoyed even robust health, 
have known no disease, and have consequently exercised no con- 
trol over the appetites, seldom attain to old age. 

The general conditions, then, which contribute to long life, are 
those which do not imply a rapid and unequal exhaustion of 
those powers by which life is maintained. These conditions are a 
moderate and an equally balanced performance of all the func- 



DOTATION OF LIFE. 385 

tions, and a moderate and an equally balanced indulgence of all 
the natural appetites. So far as this object is concerned, it is 
less likely to be defeated by a deficient intensity in the functions, 
or a deficient indulgence of the appetites, than by excess in either ; 
although a greater efficiency in the business of life, and a more 
perceptible enjoyment of health, may be consistent with the latter. 

In regard to particular conditions, that which experience shows 
most uniformly important is the breathing of a uniformly pure 
air, with an abundant supply of it ; air free from the artificial 
impurities which pollute the atmosphere of cities, and from those 
natural ones which prevail in low, flat, damp, malarious regions. 
Hence mountainous districts, well drained by running streams of 
water, have always been noted for longevity. The most favor- 
able climate seems to be that in which there exist considerable 
vicissitudes in the seasons, and which admits of exposure, with 
due protection, to the bracing air of a cold winter. Although 
unmitigated exposure to cold is undoubtedly a depressing agency, 
and productive of disease, yet, within certain limits, it is by no 
means certain that, like torpidity, such exposure may not prevent 
the expenditure of vital power. 

In regard to food, no condition seems so important as that it 
should not be immoderate in quantity ; and its kind is of little 
consequence except so far as it may lead to habitual excess. Very 
old men have for the most part been simple livers and small 
eaters ; and the greater number of them have been of the hum- 
bler classes of society, with whom high living was not possible, 
and the quality of their food did not tempt to indulgence. The 
influences which operate upon persons of this description are 
rather those which produce disease, than those which exhaust 
life ; and hence, although there may be among them a greater 
mortality in early and middle life, there is more reserved power 
in such as resist the causes of death during this period, to resist 
also those which operate chiefly in age. 

A life of extreme labor, or indeed extreme exercise of any kind, 
of extreme anxiety about worldly concerns, of extreme moral 
excitement of any kind, is unfavorable to long life ; whilst, on the 
contrary, a moderate degree of each favors it. Scarcely la- 
thing seems to contribute more to it than a + ~ 
17 



386 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

habit of mind, and a freedom from annoying cares. But excep- 
tions will be found to all general principles on this subject, as 
upon all others. Some men live to an advanced age when every- 
thing seems to threaten them with an early death ; and others, 
when everything promises an extended existence, are disap- 
pointed in their expectation. It is particularly to be remem- 
bered, that life is not to be prolonged by deferring the adoption 
of the necessary means till old age is already approaching. The 
causes which determine the period of our dissolution may be at 
work while we are in the midst of health and indulgence ; and 
may be determined, so far as it depends upon natural causes, 
even in youth or infancy. No doubt where the capital of life 
has been prematurely expended, excessive care, and a rigid 
husbanding of what is left, may do somethimg toward a prolonga- 
tion of our years. Lewis Cornaro, who from fast living was 
thought ready to die at the age of thirty-five, by adopting a strict 
and self-denying regimen, lived beyond a century. But it is not 
wise in matters of importance to be governed by exceptions ; and 
it will be found in respect to health, as well as in our worldly 
affairs, that it is safer to practise an early economy than a late 
parsimony, if we would live comfortably in the one case, or long 
in the other. 



CHAPTER XVII. (W.) 

ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND ON THE MENTAL CON- 
STITUTION OF ANIMALS. 

The individuality of everything possessed of life, and the 
absence of this individuality in everything not possessed of life, 
were mentioned in the Introduction as among the characteristics 
by which organic, organized, or living matter is distinguished 
from inorganic, unorganized, or common matter. This difference 
is an important circumstance in its relation to the laws by which 
these two divisions of existing things are governed. The whole 

■|j7<>rrMi f inorganic matter, as it respects these laws, constitutes 
On the other hand, each distinct plant and 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 387 

animal, however humble, also constitutes in itself a single system. 
There is one principle, which, by one uniform set of laws, gov- 
erns the inorganic material universe as an integral whole. Each 
living thing is also an integral whole, governed by its own princi- 
ple, and acting by a set of laws peculiar, in a certain sense, to itself. 
The gravity which makes a stone fall or a balloon ascend, is the 
same as that which regulates the motion of a planet in its orbit. 
The life of the insect has no such community of existence with the 
life of the man. Every living thing is insulated from every other 
living thing. The forces by which the operations of any one 
living system are carried on, have no interchangeable relations 
with those by which the operations of any other are carried on. 
Each organism is a unit, in regard to the laws which govern it. 
Each is shut up in its own individuality. So far as its life is con- 
cerned, it can impart nothing, it can receive nothing. It has in 
itself, and for itself, its own power and its own cause. 

This is a remarkable condition of existence. Our own reflec- 
tions teach us that it is a real one, so far as our conscious powers 
are concerned ; for what can be conceived of as more insulated 
than the consciousness of each and every man ? But it is equally 
real with regard to every the minutest detail of his structure and 
his functions. Of this there is a homely, but convincing, illustra- 
tion in the fact, that even in so slight a matter as the odor of the 
skin, which is dependent upon an emanation the pecularities of 
whose composition no chemistry can detect, there are no two 
individuals so precisely alike that the senses of the dog cannot 
distinguish one from the other. 

The whole universe of inorganic matter, then, constitutes an 
individual economy, governed by laws, and possessed of powers, 
which pervade, and are common to, every part of it. Each sep- 
arate living organism is also an individual economy, governed by 
laws, and possessed of powers, which pervade, and are common 
to, every part of its organization, but extend to nothing beyond 
it. Both in the universe of inorganic matter and in living 
organisms the economy is directed by an intelligent principle. 
In the former this is a general one ; in the latter it is peculiar to 
each individual. Among the possessors of life there is a wide 
difference in the extent and variety of the powers which are 



388 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

exercised ; yet .they nevertheless always retain this essential char- 
acteristic of an insulated individuality. Thus in all plants, and 
perhaps in some animals, although operations directed by an indi- 
vidual, intelligent power are constantly carried on, there is no 
sensation, no perception of an external world, and no conscious- 
ness of existence ; whilst in a large proportion of animals, per- 
haps in all, each of these is present. Probably in the lower 
forms of animal life, sensation, perception, and consciousness are 
dim and indistinct when compared with the intense character 
which they exhibit in the higher forms ; still they exist. But, 
what is particularly to be observed in connection with the present 
subject is, that even in these higher animals, beside the perform- 
ance of operations under the cognizance of sensation, perception, 
and consciousness, there are also performed other operations, 
essentially the same with those of plants, of which they take no 
cognizance, and over which they have no personal control, and 
yet these operations, like those in plants, are under the direction 
and superintendence of an individual and intelligent, though still 
unconscious, principle. 

In ourselves, for example, the functions of sensation and motion 
report themselves to our consciousness ; we recognize the organs 
by which they are performed, and the results they bring about. 
It is not so with those functions by which the body is nourished 
and the organs are kept in repair. We do not notice their per- 
formance at all, except indirectly ; and we do not even recognize 
the existence of the organs by which they are carried on. Now 
these functions are essentially the same as those of the plant; 
and, like those of the plant, they may be perfectly performed 
without being perceived by the consciousness of the organic being 
in which they are exercised. We have then, in a limited sense, 
two principles of intelligent life. Of one of these we are 
conscious, and its operations are under the influence of the 
will; whilst of the other we are not conscious, and its opera- 
tions are entirely independent of the will. Still these principles 
have not that distinctness from each other which this statement 
might seem to imply. They have intimate reciprocal relations, 
a common bond of union ; they are indissolubly bound together 
by a necessary condition of their existence ; they constitute a 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 389 

one. Under certain abnormal conditions, we perceive the pres- 
ence and actions of the organs of the vegetable life within us ; 
whilst, on the other hand, these organs are powerfully influenced 
by the passions and emotions of our conscious, or animal, life. 

From the unconscious, but still intelligent, principle proceed 
those actions, or operations, which are called Instinctive ; from 
the other principle, the conscious, proceed those actions which are 
called Intelligent. It is to be observed, however, of many of the 
latter, that, although they are carried on by the aid of the senses 
and the voluntary muscles, under the full cognizance of the 
animal, yet the impulse from which they proceed, and the skill 
with which they are directed, are entirely out of the sphere of 
consciousness, and are to be referred to the same source as the 
functions of organic life. 

We may distinguish, then, three classes of operations by which 
the economy of animals is carried on. 

First, Those which are prompted, devised, directed, and exe- 
cuted by the unconscious principle ; 

Secondly, Those which are prompted, devised, and directed by 
the unconscious principle, but are executed by the organs of the 
conscious principle, that is, by the organs of sense and motion, 
and are often suggested by information derived from these ; and 

Thirdly, Those which are devised, directed, and executed 
mainly by the intelligence of the conscious principle. 

Of these last operations, however, many are prompted by sug- 
gestions from the unconscious life, and are often executed by means 
not to be distinguished from those by which that life is administered. 
So, also, voluntary actions which have become habitual are not 
easily to be discriminated in their mode of performance from those 
which are instinctive, and, on the other hand, purely instinctive 
actions resemble closely those which are the result of habit. The 
artisan who devotes his life to the practice of some very nice and 
complicated workmanship, and the musician who executes on a 
piano-forte two or three parts of a complicated harmony, are not 
unapt representations of the bee or the wasp, going through with 
their tasks, adapting themselves to circumstances that may arise, 
and devising, within certain limits, means to obviate occasional 
difficulties with equal skill. 



390 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

There is such a combination of these two principles of activity 
in most of the operations of the life of animals, especially of the 
higher, that it becomes extremely difficult to analyze their char- 
acter and to determine from which they proceed. Even in man, 
where instinct has the least, and intelligence the most, influence 
upon these operations, it will be found that the former takes a 
larger part in them than we are apt to imagine, though still a part 
subservient to, and directed to, the purposes of the latter. Thus, 
in voluntary motion, there is no muscle of the body which we 
can cause to contract by a simple act of the will, directed to it 
with this specific purpose. We will the hand to grasp an object, 
and are sensible of the consequent effort in the hand, but of none 
in the muscles that move the hand; for these are situated at some 
distance, and, unless instructed by a knowledge of anatomy, we 
have no idea where. We will to hold our breath; but this we 
do, not by willing the cessation of the action of the muscles by 
which respiration is performed, but by interposing a mechanical 
obstacle to the entrance of air, by an effort directed to quite a 
remote part, the aperture of the windpipe. 

It is also true of some of those higher operations which appear 
most exclusively in the domain of the intellect, that in the in- 
struments and mode of their performance the instinctive or 
unconscious element enters largely. Thus, in operations which 
relate to numbers, although the intellect is wholly concerned in 
the conception of the object of the process and the general course 
of procedure, the subordinate steps of the process are performed 
instinctively. This is so much the case, that those individuals in 
whom the capacity for numerical calculation is carried to excess 
as part of their original constitution, Zerah Colburn for instance, 
are incapable of explaining the steps by which their results are 
arrived at ; — they are reached by a species of instinct. So, 
too, the education of the senses and of the voluntary muscles 
in infancy is carried on by a species of instinct, rather than by a 
voluntary process set on foot by the conscious intelligence, with 
this definite purpose in view. The same is true of the original 
acquisition of language. The original tendency, and the first 
steps taken, are properly instinctive, though the voluntary and 
intelligent principle begins sooner or later to take charge of 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 391 

the process, the final direction of which is mainly under its 
guidance. 

There is a close resemblance between the remarkable results 
of the instinctive principle as exhibited in the voluntary labors of 
some insects, and those which are produced by the involuntary 
labors of the internal organs. The hexagonal cells of bees and 
wasps, and the arrangement of their combs, have their counter- 
part in the structure of the electrical organs of the torpedo, and 
of one of the stomachs of ruminating animals. This comparison 
may appear fanciful ; yet, on a careful consideration, it is difficult 
to point out any real distinction, except in the organs by which the 
work is performed. In both cases it must be directed by some 
principle working with intelligence to accomplish a determinate 
end. The only difference is in the agents by which the work is 
done, in the one case by those internal ones which fabricate all 
the organs of the body, in the other by the organs of sense and 
will, but all equally under the guidance of the instinctive intel- 
ligence conveyed by the nerves to the parts concerned. The 
mere fact that the operation is not present to the consciousness in 
the former case, whilst it is in the latter, does not alter its essen- 
tial character, since in the latter the conscious intelligence of the 
animal is not supposed to take any part in its direction. 

The same analogy may be pointed out with regard to a still 
more remarkable example of pure instinct. As formerly stated, 
there are certain insects which not only provide a place of 
deposit for their eggs, but also store it with a supply of food 
adapted to the necessities of the young after they have been 
hatched, — a kind of food entirely different from that by which 
they are themselves nourished. There is no operation in insect 
life, which, if performed by a rational being, would seem to indi- 
cate a more varied capacity and knowledge than this. It would 
imply a knowledge of the office in which it was engaged, — namely, 
the production of offspring, — of the difference between this off- 
spring and itself in its condition and necessities, and of its inca- 
pacity to provide for these necessities. Now there is, in our own 
species, a similar provision, by which, months before the birth of 
the infant, an organ, the mother's breast, is put in a course 
of preparation for the manufacture of food for his nourishment 



392 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

after the birth takes place, a food peculiar in its qualities and 
different from that of the mother ; so too in the jaws of the child 
itself, before it comes into the world, the teeth are already formed 
to act upon a still different kind, for which it will have no desire 
and no power of digestion, till after a long period. In both these 
cases there is somewhere, belonging to the individual organism, 
knowledge, forethought, sagacity, applied to bring about certain 
ends almost identical in their nature and conditions with those in 
the case of the insect. We do not believe that the insect has any 
personal conception of the work he is about, he is simply a con- 
scious and voluntary agent of a blind impulse ; in the cases of 
the mother and the child, the impulse is the same, it differs only 
in the character of the agents by which the work is done. 

In the different grades of instinct are found great differences 
as to the amount and extent of the powers of intellect which are 
associated with them in the government of the economy. When 
this is wholly managed by instinct, there seems to be no capacity 
for acquiring knowledge ; all the knowledge necessary to the per- 
formance of the functions is innate, for the bee knows as well at 
the first moment of its existence all those qualities of external 
objects which fit them to make wax and honey of, as it does after 
the experience of a season. Animals of a higher grade are found 
with a less perfect instinct and less innate knowledge, but with 
a power of acquiring knowledge, till we come to man, in whom 
no knowledge is possessed at birth, but a high capacity for its 
attainment. 

The investigation of the directing powers of animal life is 
attended by greater difficulties than almost any subject that can 
be presented for our consideration. It is even more obscure than 
that which concerns our own mental constitution ; since in the 
latter case we have the aid of our own consciousness to guide us, 
as well as language, which affords a means of communication 
with the consciousness of others. A perfectly satisfactory expla- 
nation of the facts of instinct and of intelligence, and a reference 
of their respective phenomena to each, is not to be expected ; but 
the above statement affords perhaps as intelligible a solution as 
can be given. The subject may be further illustrated by con- 
sidering some examples of the manner in which the powers 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 393 

that direct the operations of living things exhibit themselves in 
various forms of vegetable and animal life. 

The tendrils of climbing plants throw themselves out in a 
straight line till they touch some object, and then immediately 
begin to twist around, seeking to attach themselves in order to 
support the stem. " It is a hand seeking in the dark, and grasp- 
ing what it has felt by an action remote from the sensible point." 
" Among a collection of palm-trees was one having hooks near 
the extremity of the frond, evidently designed for attaching it to 
the branches of trees for support when growing in its native for- 
ests. The ends of the fronds were all pendent but one, which, 
being nearest to the rafters of the conservatory, lifted its end 
several feet to fasten to the rafter ; none of the others altered 
their position, as they could not have reached the rafter had they 
attempted to do so." The Pandanus, or screw-pine, as it in- 
creases in size, is supported by aerial roots which are thrown out 
at some distance from the ground, and, when they reach it, soon 
bury themselves. When, however, a tree inclines to one side, 
these roots are developed on the opposite one at some distance 
above the others, in order to counteract the increased danger of 
being blown down by the wind. One of the varieties of Indian 
corn attains to a height of twelve or fourteen feet. In order to 
support this disproportioned growth, the plant throws out fibres 
at various distances from the ground, which, descending, take 
root, and support the stem like the shrouds of a mast. This is 
not an expedient common to all varieties of the plant, but a 
peculiar one adapted to the necessities of this. 

The phenomena observed in connection with the complicated 
economy of the social insects, — bees, wasps, and especially ants, 
— have been described in several of the preceding chapters. 
So remarkable are they, and so indicative of observation and 
reason, that we find it difficult to regard them as the results of 
anything else. Yet phenomena equally complicated, and equally 
indicative of these qualities, are exhibited in the internal econ- 
omy of that wonderful fabric, the human body. In the har- 
monious performance of its many functions ; in their nice and 
intimate correlation ; in the constant variations of the intensity of 
the action of the several organs, according to the necessities of 
17* 



394 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

the system or of particular parts of it ; in the perception of the 
operations of external agents, and the consequent reaction ; and in 
the sympathy between remote parts, — we have a system as com- 
plex, and yet regulated in as orderly a manner, as in the beehive 
or the ants' nest. If the flow of perspiration from the skin be 
defective, the kidney supplies the defect ; if the secretion of the 
liver be disturbed, the same organ again interferes to ward off 
the evil results ; if any organ, from its increased activity, re- 
quires an increased quantity of blood, the heart and bloodvessels 
immediately supply the demand, and, as this process calls for an 
augmented respiration, the muscles of the chest take on a more 
rapid action to introduce a corresponding quantity of air ; if an 
injury, however unusual, be inflicted, the agents that have charge 
of this office, rush at once to the work of repair ; whilst in some 
animals, if even a whole limb is torn off, a new one is manu- 
factured to supply its place, with all the appropriate details of 
its structure, — bones, muscles, vessels, and tendons. The com- 
bined operations in the one case appear as much the result of a 
common presiding intelligence as in the other. The difference, 
as before explained, lies in the fact, that, in the former, the 
agents are conscious and voluntary ; in the latter, unconscious 
and involuntary. There is no reason, therefore, for believing 
that any other directing powers enter into the production of the 
phenomena in question, than those which are properly in- 
stinctive. 

But when we come to the higher animals, the case is differ- 
ent. The insect is born with all the knowledge, as well as all the 
powers, that are necessary to his purposes. He is as adequate to 
the labors he is to perform, the moment he comes into life, as he 
is when he goes out of it. He learns nothing from observation ; 
he acquires no skill from experience. Neither of them teaches 
him to modify, or improve, or advance upon, the suggestions of 
his instinct. But the higher animals, though they come into life 
with various instincts, and often with much of the knowledge that 
is necessary to carry them into active operation, are capable, by 
observation, experience, and reflection, not only of modifying 
and improving them, of carrying them out more perfectly as 
they grow older, but also of applying them to subjects which do 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 395 

not originally fall within their province. Indeed, especially 
under the influence of education, they may be made to under- 
take operations which are entirely out of the sphere of instinct. 

The habitations of animals are mainly constructed under the 
direction of a clearly marked instinct, which not only dictates the 
general form of the structure, but also many of its details, and 
the materials to be employed. The most remarkable exam- 
ple of this instinct is found in the beaver. Its strong original 
tendency in this direction has been exemplified in the case of a 
young one, made captive before he could have learned anything 
by observation. As soon as he was released from his cage, he 
busied himself in a structure which bore a certain resemblance 
to the dam and cabin that these animals build in a state of nature. 
He had recourse for this purpose to whatever materials chance 
threw in his way, such as brooms, brushes, sticks, baskets, books, 
shoes, and boots. While at his work, he much resembled a child 
playing at building houses. Still this instinct is not absolute and 
undeviating, like that of the bee and the wasp ; it is modified ac- 
cording to circumstances. In the neighborhood of human abodes, 
the beavers neither associate nor build their peculiar habita- 
tions ; and, when the water they have selected as the seat of their 
colony is permanently at the same level, they make no dam. 
It is only when they have made choice of a running stream that 
their instinct is allowed full operation. Observation and experi- 
ence teach them to restrain its impulses wherever the circum- 
stances are such as to render its full indulgence unnecessary, 
inappropriate, or dangerous. 

The mysterious migrations of birds, especially that most re- 
markable one of the wild geese, appear as if they were under 
the guidance of an unobservant and inexperienced instinct, an 
instinct operating like that of the bee, which finds its way home 
with so much certainty, even when abroad for the first time, and 
is so discreetly observant of the state and aspects of the weather. 
Earlier in some years, and later in others, the wild goose starts 
upon his journey for the arctic regions, guided by some principle 
more certain than the compass or the sextant. He is accurate in 
his calculations of season, climate, and distance. He anticipates, 
more certainly than man can do, the character of the coming 



396 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

weather, and, according to his anticipations, returns early or late 
to the kindly waters of the South. What foresight, what intelli- 
gence, what wisdom ! But there is no other subject to which he 
can apply them. For all other purposes these marvellous powers 
are dormant. The intelligence by which he is guided seems more 
like the power of the needle to point always to the pole, than an 
actual voluntary judgment, which, if it existed in man, he would 
be capable of applying to a variety of other subjects. But we 
have other examples of animals finding their way from place to 
place, not by a general law of instinct belonging to 'the species, 
but by an exhibition of sagacity peculiar to the individual, and 
due apparently to its own observation and reflection. Such are 
the cases, so often narrated and so well authenticated, of cats, 
dogs, and horses, which, after being carried a long distance from 
home, have, without any possible aid from man, found their way 
back. 

It is not to be denied that, even among those animals which 
according to the preceding statements are to be regarded as 
governed exclusively by instinct, there are occasional exhibitions 
of sagacity that are difficult to account for, except upon the sup- 
position of observation and reasoning. A small black ant in 
South America, inhabiting a district subject to frequent inunda- 
tions, builds its hills about three feet high, in the near neigh- 
borhood of each other. When the water rises above them, the 
inhabitants commit themselves to the waves, clinging together in 
a large, thick mass, and thus float upon the surface. This mass 
they attach to some plant or sprig of grass, in order that they 
may be kept stationary till the inundation subsides ; and thus they 
readily find their habitations again. But on the other hand, in the 
same class of animals, we also find examples of an instinct so blind, 
and sometimes so destructive to them, as to preclude the idea of 
any proper observant or reasoning power. It is related of a 
tribe of ants in Sierra Leone, that they march always in columns, 
and pursue obstinately a straight course, from which nothing ever 
induces them to deviate. If they come to a building, they either 
go over or undermine it, and if ■ to a river, they endeavor to cross 
it, although the attempt is attended by the destruction of vast 
numbers. 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 397 

The apprehension of danger operates as a strong motive for 
the exercise of the latent powers of animals, and under its 
influence they are stimulated to the devising of extraordinary- 
expedients for. escape. Of this, several remarkable instances 
are referred to in the preceding pages. One of the most 
marvellous is the feigning of death. This has been observed in 
the elephant, the crocodile, the opossum, the hedgehog, the fox, 
and probably in others. In these animals, it is rather the 
special stratagem of the individual, than the result of any general 
power. It has, however, been also observed in some insects, and 
in them appears less like a device of the individual, than an im- 
pulse belonging to the race. 

Many of the domestic animals, and of others when associated 
with or educated by man, afford unequivocal evidence of no 
small degree of sagacity, observation, and intelligence, combined 
with and modifying the operation of instinct. This has been 
particularly observed in elephants, dogs, and horses, but some- 
times in animals less remarkable for capacity, as cats, camels, hogs, 
goats, and seals. Cats have been often known to open a door by 
springing upon a thumb-latch, horses to untie their halters with 
their teeth, cows to let down bars and to open gates. There is 
here implied a nice observation of the manner in which they 
have seen these operations performed ; a distinct cognizance of 
the means employed, and of the mode in which they bring about 
the end ; and finally an imitation of those means. 

There are other cases which display a closer approach to the 
processes of the human mind, and imply a more complicated 
series of observation, reflection, and analysis. A cart-horse, 
noted for his sagacity, once found a wagon obstructing the way 
which led to his stable. The space was too narrow to allow him 
to pass on either side. Placing his breast against the vehicle, he 
pushed it onward till he came to a part of the road which was 
wide enough to allow him to go by it. On another occasion, a 
large, wide drain had been dug in the same road, and planks laid 
over it, on which he could cross. It was winter ; and one morn- 
ing the planks being covered with snow and ice, in stepping 
upon them his feet slipped. He drew back, and seemed at a loss 
how to proceed. Near the planks was a heap of sand ; he put 



398 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

his fore feet into this, and looked wistfully to the other side of the 
drain, where stood the boy who was accustomed to attend him. 
Seeing his hesitation, the boy called him. The horse immediately 
turned round, and, first with one foot, and then with the other, 
scraped the sand over upon the planks till they were completely 
covered. He then, without hesitation, trotted directly into his 
stable. Some horses kept in an inclosure together, were sup- 
plied with water by a trough which was filled from a pump. One 
of them learned, of his own accord, to supply himself and his com- 
panions by taking the pump-handle between his teeth, and working 
it with his head. The others, finding that he could thus supply 
their wants, would force him, by biting and kicking, to pump for 
them, and would not allow him to drink till they were satisfied. 
" That this was not a mere act of imitation," says Dr. Carpenter, 
who tells the story, "appears from the circumstance that the 
horse did not attempt to imitate the movement of the man, but 
performed the same action in a different manner." A wren, in 
the Penrhyn slate quarries, used to fly from her nest on the 
ringing of a bell, which gave notice to the workmen engaged in 
blasting that an explosion was about to take place. In order to 
exhibit this phenomenon to strangers who visited the place, the 
bell was often rung at other times. At first, the bird left her nest 
as before, but after a time, paid no attention to the signal, except 
when she observed that the workmen also went away as they 
had usually done. 

There are other well-attested anecdotes which tend to show, 
that animals are not only guided in their actions by faculties like 
those of men, but are also excited to action by some of the same 
feelings and emotions. The following is given on the authority 
of Cuvier, and derives an additional interest from the fact that it 
first served to draw his attention to Natural History, as a pursuit. 
While he was a young man, a pair of swallows built their nest on 
one of the angles of the casement of his apartment. During their 
temporary absence it was taken possession of by a pair of spar- 
rows, who persisted in retaining it, and resisted every effort 
of the rightful owners to regain it. After a time, crowds of 
swallows gathered upon the roof, among whom were recognized 
the exiled pair, who seemed to be informing their friends of the 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 399 

outrage they had suffered. The whole assembly was in a state of 
great commotion, and appeared highly incensed, as was manifested 
by their movements and cries. Before long, suddenly and swift as 
thought, a host of them flew against the nest. Each bore in his 
bill a small quantity of mud which he deposited at its entrance, 
and then gave way for another who repeated the operation. This 
was continued till the opening was completely closed up, and the 
marauders were buried in a living tomb. The labors of this friendly 
company, however, did not cease here. They immediately col- 
lected materials for another nest, which they built just over the 
entrance to the first. In less than two hours after the act of ven- 
geance had been consummated, the new structure was completed 
and inhabited. In an English park were two large pieces of wa- 
ter separated from each other by an isthmus much wider at one 
end than the other, and inhabited by a couple of swans. A fawn 
and its mother, belonging to a herd of deer that inhabited the 
park, on coming one day to drink, were attacked by the swans, 
and the fawn was drowned. Some time afterward, when the swans 
were both upon the widest part of the isthmus and thus at a dis- 
tance from the water, a number of deer rushed suddenly down, 
and trampled one of them to death. A small dog which had been 
repeatedly worried by a large one, at length brought to his aid 
a dog still larger, who so effectually chastised his enemy as to put 
a stop to'all future aggression. These are striking examples of a 
distinct motive, a distinct plan, a power of communicating that 
plan to or of devising it in common with others, of inspiring 
them with a common sentiment, and finally of carrying the plan 
into execution with their aid. 

The maternal instinct, when excited by circumstances to a more 
than common intensity, has been sometimes known to lead to the 
exhibition of unusual discernment. A cat had had several suc- 
cessive litters of kittens successively drowned. At length, appar- 
ently in despair at this repeated blasting of her hopes, she 
prepared a secure place at some distance from her usual place of 
abode, and there her next litter was brought forth. This was 
finally discovered, but her affection and ingenuity were this time 
rewarded by the lives of her offspring. The nest of a martin 
had fallen from the eaves of a house when full of young. These 



400 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

were taken up and placed in a basket, where their parents attended 
and fed them as before. All were fledged, and soon left their place 
of refuge except a feeble and helpless one which remained there. 
When thus left alone he was exposed to the severity of cold east 
winds, which began to prevail at the time. The old birds not only 
continued to supply him with food, but, in order to protect him 
from the wind, built up a wall of mud three inches high, upon that 
side of the basket which was exposed to it. The following case 
furnishes a rare example, at once of the ingenuity suggested by 
the maternal sentiment, and of fidelity to an accustomed duty. 
A shepherd intrusted a flock of eighty sheep to his dog alone, to 
be driven home, — a distance of seventeen miles. On the road 
she was delivered of a couple of pups. Notwithstanding this in- 
cumbrance, and though still faithful to her maternal instinct, she 
was not neglectful of her task. By carrying her young a few miles 
in advance of her flock whilst it was feeding, and then driving it 
on beyond them, she at length reached the end of her journey ; 
as it turned out, however, at the sacrifice of the lives of her 
offspring. 

A feeling of kindness between individuals of the same species 
is sometimes the motive which prompts to these unusual exhibi- 
tions. A wounded or imprisoned bird has been sometimes fed by 
its fellows. When the dugong, a gregarious animal, is wounded 
by the harpoon, its companions flock around and endeavor to 
wrench out the weapon with their teeth. Still it more frequently 
happens among animals, when one of their number is maimed or 
helpless, that it is either neglected, or else trodden down or even 
devoured by the rest. 

Attachment of animals to particular individuals among mankind 
is a more common sentiment. A horse came home without his 
driver, but, instead of going directly to his stable, stopped at the 
house, neighed, and exhibited other indications of great disquietude. 
This at first excited no attention ; but, as these manifestations con- 
tinued and his master did not appear, apprehension was excited, 
and a person despatched in search of him. He was found two 
miles off, lying insensible in consequence of a severe blow upon 
the head which he had received by falling from his cart. By 
no animal has this sentiment been so remarkably evinced as by 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 401 

the dog. A poor boy was fatally injured, and carried to a hospital. 
His little dog followed him thither, and, being prevented from 
entering it, lay down at the gate, watching with wishful eyes 
every one that went in, as if imploring admittance. Though 
constantly repulsed by the attendants, he never left the spot by 
day or night, and died at his post even before his master. 

The dog of the French soldier follows him to the camp, often 
accompanies him into action, and has been found at his side when 
wounded or dying on the field of battle. A private was con- 
demned to be shot and his executioners were ready to fire upon 
him. Just as the bandage was about being placed over his eyes, his 
dog flew into his arms and began to lick his face. This touching 
incident for a few moments arrested the proceedings ; but after a 
short delay his comrades, with tears in their eyes, gave the fatal 
volley, and the two friends expired together. A youthful con- 
script, desperately wounded in battle, was conveyed, indiscrimi- 
nately with hundreds of others, to a hospital. In the course of a 
few days a little dog made his appearance, and, searching amidst 
the dying and the dead, discovered at length his expiring master, 
and was found licking his hands. After his death a comrade 
took charge of the faithful animal, but no kindness could console 
him. He refused all food, pined away, and died. Many ex- 
amples are on record of a similar devoted attachment ending 
only with life ; and, although they afford no evidence of special 
intelligence, they do of a sentiment of the same nature as that 
which may exist in ourselves, and which is rarely exhibited of 
greater intensity. 

Phenomena are sometimes observed among animals, of which, 
from the difficulty of penetrating into the intimate nature of the 
impulses by which they are governed, it is impossible to discover 
the motives or the purpose. Huber witnessed among ants 
strange exhibitions of what appeared to be games for exercise 
or amusement, or like an imitation of their manoeuvres in actual 
encounter with their enemies. A couple of robins had been 
often observed playing together in a manner somewhat peculiar. 
" One day," says the relater of the anecdote, " I had occasion, 
in the summer time, to look for something in this room, and. ac- 
companied by one of my sons ; I unlocked the door with the 



402 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

intention of entering, when two robins flew out through the open, 
grated window, and then, making a circuit through the air, 
pitched together on the ground of the court in which we were 
standing, about ten yards from us. They then apparently com- 
menced a most furious fight with each other, and shortly one of 
them fell upon his back, stretched out his legs, and seemed per- 
fectly dead. The other instantly seized him by the back of his 
head, and dragged him several times round and round a circle of 
seven or eight feet in diameter. Much to my astonishment, 
after being dragged a few rounds, the fallen and apparently dead 
bird sprang up with a bound, his antagonist in his turn fell upon 
his back, stretched out both legs in the apparent rigidity of death, 
and his late seemingly dead opponent in like manner seized him 
by the head, and after dragging him a few rounds, they both 
sprang up and flew off together." 

In the inferences we draw from anecdotes recorded of animals, 
however, we are to bear in mind that they are liable to be tainted 
with much exaggeration, and that their details are liable to be 
somewhat colored by the imagination and preconceptions of their 
relaters. We are to recollect also that the qualities they de- 
scribe are not to be always taken as indications of the general 
character of the animals to which they relate, but rather as ex- 
ceptions to it. The individuals by whom such qualities are 
exhibited either may be uncommon specimens of their species, 
or else they may have been stimulated at the time by some un- 
usual motive. We do not find the same display in the ordinary 
course of their lives. They seem to act at the time under the 
influence of a sort of inspiration, whilst on all other occasions they 
display only that amount of intelligence or feeling which is 
possessed by the average of their race. We sometimes perceive 
in ourselves, when actuated by some strong sentiment, or in some 
unusual emergency, that our faculties are quickened to efforts 
not only more energetic, but directed by greater ingenuity and 
sagacity than we manifest under ordinary circumstances. 

Were the elephant possessed of an original sagacity like that 
which he exhibits on the few subjects to which his education is 
directed, a sagacity of general application, like that of man, he 
would be easily able, in his associated state when wild, to foil the 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 403 

stratagems of his captors, and in a domesticated state to set his 
masters at defiance. Take him out of the range of these sub- 
jects, and his general intelligence is not above that of a small 
child. In his wild state he is timid and imbecile. He feels no 
spontaneous impulse to the exercise of his ingenuity or intelli- 
gence. His want of observation is shown by the fact that the 
slightest impediment deters him as completely as the most for- 
midable. Although his immense strength, when instructed, and 
directed in its exercise, enables him to batter down a strong gate 
and push over a heavy wall, he will not of himself break through 
a slight paling which protects the corn-field which he seeks to 
enter. The feeblest structure in the form of a fence foils him. 
He wanders round for some unobstructed opening, and, if he does 
not find one, retreats without attaining his object. He amuses 
himself with such petty tricks as demolishing the pillars of water- 
pipes, breaking off their stopcocks, and pulling up the pegs of 
surveyors. He has no knowledge of his real powers. His own 
nature does not lead to their development ; it furnishes no motive 
for their exercise. It is only when educated, when induced to 
acquire knowledge by man, that he exhibits those extraordinary 
qualities for which he is so celebrated. The same remarks hold 
true of other animals noted for the occasional display of unex- 
pected capacity. 

The results of an examination into the nature of the powers 
by which the operations of animals are carried on, may be briefly 
summed up in the following manner. They are under the direction 
of the two principles, Instinct and Intelligence. Some animals 
are directed wholly by the former ; none wholly by the latter. In 
most of them the former is the original and fundamental principle 
of activity, in many it is the only one. In those where it is the 
only one, it governs not only the functions of the vegetable or 
organic life, but also those of the animal life, of the senses, the 
consciousness, and the will, — and its manifestations thus come 
under the cognizance of the individual. It is originally endowed 
with all such knowledge as is necessary to the perfect perform- 
ance of the operations which it superintends, and consequently 
it is never improved by observation and experience. It does not 
think, it does not reason, it acts without any reference to an 



404 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND 

end, it does not perceive the object of the actions it excites. In 
those animals in which Instinct is not the sole principle of activity, 
Intelligence enters in various degrees, partakes its dominion, and 
cooperates with it. Intelligence has no preconceived ideas, it 
is destitute of any original knowledge, but it acquires both ideas 
and knowledge. It thinks, reasons, judges ; perceives the purpose 
for which it acts, and in this way renders the instinctive powers, 
with which it is associated, subservient to its ends ; enlarges the 
sphere within which they operate, imparts to them new impulses, 
and suggests to them new motives for activity. Instinct, within the 
field which it embraces, is the most certain guide ; but its original 
field is limited, and without the aid of Intelligence it is incapable 
of extension. With this aid it may be modified and improved, and 
the modification and improvement may be transmitted in some 
degree to succeeding generations. We have the most complete 
specimen of what Instinct alone can do, in such insects as the ant, 
bee, wasp, and spider ; and of what Intelligence can do, in such 
animals as the horse, dog, beaver, and elephant, and, more than 
all, in man. Instinct probably predominates in all animals below 
man, and the presence of a true Intelligence is not distinctly de- 
tected below the Vertebral animals, except among the higher 
species of the Articulata and Mollusca. Its influence becomes 
more marked as we ascend, through Fishes, Reptiles, and Birds, 
to the Mammalia ; but it is only among the most elevated of the 
last that it assumes an important rank as a directing power, 
and it is never a predominant one except in man. This statement 
will be sufficient to show what a variety in animal character the 
influence of these two principles mingled in different proportions 
must produce, and to show also how difficult in each instance 
it must be to determine from which of them any given line of 
conduct on the part of an animal proceeds. 

Out of those animals, however, of whose character we have the 
best opportunity of judging, the insect, as has just been intimated, 
may be taken as the representative of instinct, and man as the 
representative of intelligence ; for though instinct enters largely 
into his constitution, yet its range is limited, and though he is 
constantly influenced by its impulses, and employs it as an in- 
strument, his life is but slightly governed by it. His predomi- 



ON THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 405 

nant and governing principle is intelligence. The insect, as soon 
as it arrives at the perfect state, is capable of all of which it is 
ever capable. It goes through no education, it makes no im- 
provement, it does not learn by experience, it is taught nothing 
by its parents, it teaches nothing to its offspring ; nothing is 
transmitted from generation to generation. The race is where it 
was thousands of years ago. On the contrary, at birth Man 
knows nothing ; he can do nothing. He has only powers and 
tendencies which are latent. Beginning by actions which are 
instinctive and an education which is also instinctive, his 
intelligence becomes gradually developed, is informed by ob- 
servation and experience, and at length assumes the principal 
control over his life. He learns from his parents, he teaches his 
children, and the accumulated treasure of one generation is trans- 
mitted to the next. 

Man thus stands on an eminence high above all other animals ; 
and yet, so far as we are able to analyze their character, their 
faculties are not specifically distinct from his, but appear to differ 
from them rather in degree than in kind. Animals exhibit the 
same sentiments, the same affections, the same emotions, the same 
passions as man. Their lives are governed by certain motives and 
are directed to certain objects in common with his. It is true that 
man is induced to activity by a multiplicity of other motives 
which seem to be above their capacity to comprehend, and he 
seeks to attain many objects, of the value of which they have no 
conception. We never find in them the love of the sex as the 
foundation of the family relation, the love of offspring or of par- 
ents as a permanent sentiment, the desire of knowledge for its 
own sake, the love of power or fame, the propensity to accumulate 
property, the effort permanently to better their condition in any 
way. These are incentives which stimulate man to that 
progress which so eminently distinguishes him in creation. Yet 
it is by no means certain that a minute analysis of the minds of 
animals might not detect in them the undeveloped embryo of all 
these characteristics. The degree in which they govern man 
sufficiently explains his vast superiority as an animal, but they 
do not account for that essential distinction which we feel to exist 
between him and the whole living creation around him. 



406 ON INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, ETC. 

This can only be explained by the possession of an essential 
distinction in his nature. In man a new and distinct principle is 
superinduced upon the principle of Life, just as the principle of 
Life is superinduced upon that which governs inanimate and 
inorganic matter. Life in its highest conscious and intellectual 
development explains all the facts of human existence up to a 
certain point. Beyond that it explains nothing. To the spiritual 
nature of man, including the moral and the religious sentiment, 
the mere animal makes no approach. There is not in him the 
faintest idea which could by growth and development be elevated 
to a comprehension of it. Of moral distinctions, purely such, no 
animal has, or can be made to have, the most distant conception. 
The idea of right and wrong, of good and evil, as such, no 
amount of education can impart to him. The dog can be taught 
that killing sheep is wrong, so far as the approbation of his 
master is concerned ; he may be made to feel love, hate, pride, 
jealousy, shame, and even remorse of a certain sort ; he may be 
governed by the hope of reward and the fear of punishment ; but 
no such idea of an essential moral distinction can be conveyed to 
him as can be impressed upon and comprehended by a child, 
long before he is regarded as the subject of moral responsibility. 

Of this difference between ourselves and animals we have an 
almost intuitive perception. We recognize it at every moment of 
our lives. When do we ever consider an animal as the subject 
of praise or blame, as having done right or wrong, as having a 
conscience, as responsible for his actions (with any approach to 
the same sense in which we do a human being), any more than 
we do a stone or a crystal, a chair or a table ? If we witness, 
in a community of animals, hatred, revenge, robbery, cruelty, 
child-murder, and incest, we are moved with no horror, we feel 
no disapprobation, the idea of wrong never enters into our minds. 
But, if we are told of precisely the same state of things in a 
community of men, words can hardly express the horror and 
disgust with which we are filled at the exhibition of so low and 
degraded a condition of our species. 

If this be true with regard to the moral sentiment, it is, if 
possible, even more so with regard to the religious. No animal 
has the faintest conception of a power superior to that of 



CONCLUSION. 407 

man. He is the only God of the dog, the horse, and the ele- 
phant. Different opinions may be held concerning the origin 
of this sentiment; of its universal existence there can be no 
question. It may be attributed to an original instinct, to the 
convictions of reason, to a primeval revelation ; it may exhibit 
itself merely in the form of some vague supernatural fear, some 
indistinct superstition, some unintelligible idolatrous rite ; but, 
however it originated, and in whatever way exhibited, wher- 
ever we find man, there we find it in his possession. It is 
this which gives to the powers he possesses in common with 
other animals their onward and upward direction ; it is this which 
imparts to him the new motives that stimulate him to a continued 
career of progress and improvement ; and thus it is upon this 
element in his nature that depends his immeasurable superiority 
to every other creature. 



CHAPTER XVIII. (W.) 

CONCLUSION. 

The Kingdom of Life presents a vast collection of objects, 
which vary almost indefinitely in their character, and yet present 
so many points of resemblance in the midst of their multifarious 
differences, that we cannot fail to recognize them as all belonging 
to one common system, allied to each other as the component 
parts of one great whole, and proceeding from some one uniform 
cause always consistent with itself in the principles on which 
it acts and the end at which it aims. The subjects of this king- 
dom constitute a series beginning with those of a low and imper- 
fect organization, and rising gradually to those of an organiza- 
tion higher and more perfect. In its general plan, the course 
which creation has taken from its beginning appears to have 
been that of progressive improvement, bringing out in the first 
instance the humblest and simplest forms of life, and then gradu- 



408 CONCLUSION. 

ally introducing in the midst of them those of a higher and more 
complex character. Corresponding to this, there are found in the 
assemblage of living things, as they now present themselves, rep- 
resentatives of all the different stages through which creation 
has passed from its beginning ; so that the study of the chain 
of life as it is now exhibited is, at the same time, a study of it 
as its several links have been wrought and bound together in 
successive periods of time. In a certain sense, then, we have 
the privilege of looking at the events of creation both historically 
and contemporaneously, and thus of studying them by a double 
light. 

But though this is the general order of creation, there are 
found many departures from a perfectly regular sequence. The 
series does not go on uninterruptedly ; there are frequent de- 
partures from it in various directions. The line of succession 
does not proceed in unbroken regularity, either in the order of 
time, or in the relation which the individuals of the existing crea- 
tion bear to each other. A lower race seems sometimes to have 
come into existence after a higher, and creation, after advancing to 
a certain point, to have taken some steps backward. Among liv- 
ing animals there are found in every class examples of those that 
combine in themselves some of the attributes of such as are either 
above or below them. These attributes serve to connect them 
with other classes, and thus interfere with well-defined lines of 
demarcation. Among the Mammalia, bats fly like Birds, and 
whales swim and inhabit the water like Fishes. Among Birds, 
some can only walk or run, and others can only swim. Reptiles 
and Fishes in some instances approximate the power of flight, 
and in others produce their young alive. In some animals, the 
respiration is at one period of life like that of Fishes, and at 
another like that of Reptiles ; in others, the two modes are 
always united together. In some, different attributes are so 
combined that it has been found difficult to arrange their place in 
a scheme of classification. 

But, notwithstanding this, we do not fail to recognize in the 
history of creation, whether we trace it backward to its begin- 
ning, or study it in the forms of life as they now exist, a system, 
of which the essential element, the characteristic feature, is prog- 



CONCLUSION. 409 

ress and improvement. This general plan is distinct; and it 
should make no difference as to our views of its connection with 
its great Author, whether we regard it as the result of succes- 
sive distinct exertions of his power, with the constant super- 
intendence of his wisdom and goodness, or of a law impressed 
upon matter in its original constitution, and producing this sys- 
tem of things by a process of gradual development. The ulti- 
mate results are the only true exponents of the character of 
their cause ; and we are to receive the works of nature around us 
as containing in themselves the written history of their Author, 
whatever opinion we may be led to form of the course and the 
instruments he may have seen fit to adopt in bringing them 
into existence. 

Still, those views which represent the creation as his continuous 
work, which recognize his connection with it as immediate and 
constant, which imply that the power, wisdom, and goodness, that 
have brought it into existence, have not resigned it to the control 
of an intelligent, impersonal, and irresponsible law, but have 
always continued, and will always continue, to take a direct in- 
terest in it, ' — are certainly most congenial to those sentiments by 
which he has distinguished our nature from that of other animals. 
The creature is responsible to his Creator ; with reverence be it 
said, the Creator is no less responsible to his creature. The 
capacity 'to fear, reverence, and love an Infinite Being, which we 
find within ourselves when the idea of such a Being is once fairly 
presented to our minds, implies the existence of such a Being to 
be feared, reverenced, and loved, for no other could have im- 
parted such an idea. It were a violation of the eternal and 
necessary bond which exists between the Maker and his works, 
that such a sentiment should have been implanted in us when 
the corresponding reality did not exist. The moral and religious 
elements in man are as much a part of his nature as those ele- 
ments which he has in common with other animals, and are as 
much a part of his natural history as the instincts of the bee and 
the beaver, or the intelligence of the dog and the elephant, are a 
part of the natural history of those animals. We may, in con- 
clusion, derive advantage from tracing the connection which the 
nature of man, as an animal and as man, has with that of the 

18 



410 CONCLUSION. 

system of things in which he is placed, and also the connection 
which his Creator has borne to it. 

The words of science, as well as of Revelation, teach us, that 
in the beginning " the earth was without form, and void." In 
this, the first stage of its creation, it was unfit for the residence 
of living things. It presented nothing but inorganic matter and 
its 4aws; chemical laws governing its elements, physical laws 
governing its masses. Its temperature was uncertain, unequal, 
and extreme ; its atmosphere unfit for the support of respiration ; 
r ts surface not yet converted into a soil which could support 
vegetable life, or, to which this is necessary, animal life. This 
era seems to have been extended through an immense period 
of time, occupied by a perpetual action and reaction of different 
agents among themselves, sometimes violent, sometimes moderate, 
the result of which was the establishment of such a condition of 
the surface, such an equilibrium of temperature, and such a con- 
stitution of the atmosphere, as rendered the earth capable of sup- 
porting life. Plants and animals were then introduced, but at 
first only in their lower forms ; for it was only the lower forms 
which could endure the imperfect condition of the residence in 
which they were placed. As this condition was improved by 
continued changes and successive revolutions, higher forms were 
created corresponding to this improvement. This progress does 
not appear to have been uniformly upward and onward, but 
irregular and interrupted. The repeated destruction of the 
whole or a part of living things, rendering necessary a new 
creation, seems to have been occasioned by the conflict of mere 
physical agents, which continued after life had been introduced, 
causing various revolutions upon the surface, such as the break- 
ing out of volcanoes, changes in the level of the sea, the sub- 
sidence of tracts of land, and the upheaval of mountains. Still, 
in spite of all interruptions in the course of events, a gradual 
progress was made toward higher developments of life. 

Thus, then, with difficulty life maintained its hold in creation 
and produced its higher forms, against the force of the chemical 
and physical agencies whose tendency was to destroy them. 
When life began, a contest began. Often repressed, often 
extinguished over wide fields of its operations, life seems to 



CONCLUSION. 411 

have worked steadily on against its apparently mightier enemy, 
but to have attained only a slow and laborious victory. How 
long this contest lasted, it is impossible even to conjecture. We 
know, by indelible marks, that centuries must have been occu- 
pied in the production of some particular change in the earth's 
surface which seems to our eyes minute and limited ; and yet 
these centuries are but moments in the enormous period which 
must have been occupied by a long series of changes of which 
we have equal evidence. The imagination cannot grasp, nor can 
numbers express, the indefinite durations comprised in these two 
eras of the world's history, before and after the introduction of 
life. 

Even yet this contest continues. The relation of living to 
inorganic matter is always antagonistic, and it always must be so. 
" Life is a forced state." How narrow, even in the world which 
it has entered, are the regions within which it is confined, com- 
pared with those that are still exclusively under the control of 
physical laws ! Life is not possible except for a small distance 
above and below the surface of the earth ; and, even in this con- 
tracted space, what vast regions are there whose condition does 
not admit of its presence, or where only the very lowest forms of 
it can exist. 

How feeble a power life is, in a direct conflict with the physical 
energies- of nature, is shown by innumerable examples around us. 
It is shown by the destruction of so many races of living things, 
of whose remains some portions of the earth's crust are almost 
entirely composed. It is shown by the presence, in other por- 
tions, of the fossil remains of other races, whose scattered frag- 
ments afford indubitable evidence of their existence and of their 
disappearance. It is shown by the enormous sacrifice of infant 
life in all animals, from exposure to physical conditions that are 
incompatible with its continuance ; and by the necessity for in- 
numerable provisions in the structure and functions of all living 
things, intended to guard them against those hostile influences 
in nature which are constantly seeking to destroy them, and 
which do destroy them in such large numbers. 

But though so feeble a power in a direct conflict, Life has other 
attributes which insure its ultimate and permanent dominion. It 



412 CONCLUSION. 

has a tenacity, a perseverance, and a fruitfulness, which are never 
exhausted. It may be overwhelmed, but not annihilated. If an 
inundation overspread a large district and carry away its soil or 
overlay it with mud, the waters hardly subside before plants are 
sprouting and worms are crawling over its surface. If a volcano 
destroy a fruitful region by pouring over it a flood of lava, a 
few years only elapse before it it is converted into a fertile soil, 
and covered again with a new growth of vegetables and a new 
race of animals. If a forest is burned down, a new one springs 
up out of its ashes, inhabited, as it was before, by animals of 
every kind. The surface of the most barren rocks is clothed 
with mosses and lichens, and in every cranny and crevice plants 
strike their roots and insects lay their eggs. Flowers bloom on 
the edge of perpetual snow, and flies buzz in the sun's rays that 
are reflected from the surface of the glacier. Trees bathe their 
roots, and fishes and reptiles swim, in the waters of hot springs. 
Whilst man, the most frail of animals in an open contest with the 
elements, by providing himself with means of protection of his 
own devising, becomes the most enduring ; crawls into an oven 
where the heat is that of boiling water, and passes a winter in 
an atmosphere where mercury is a permanent solid. 

It is worthy of remark, that the changes in the condition of the 
earth which have taken place in these two eras, have not been 
brought about so much by the agency of great causes as by the 
accumulated influence of small ones. In the first era, notwith- 
standing the occasional indications of such events as earthquakes, 
volcanoes, inundations, the subsidence of water, and the eleva- 
tion of land, the principal work of direct preparation for the 
introduction of life seems to have been performed by alternate 
heat and cold, and snow r and rain, which disintegrated and de- 
composed the rocks, and washed down the materials for soil into 
the valleys and upon the plains. And in the second, after the 
appearance of life, it was not by the larger plants and animals 
that the work was carried on and subsequent changes were 
wrought, but by the humble, the insignificant, the microscopic, 
as in the formation of the beds of the Infusoria, and the reefs 
and islands of the Polypes. The large trees and animals are 
the products of an advanced period. They are nobler works, 



CONCLUSION. 413 

but they have not those powers of resistance and that tenacity 
of life, which qualify them for being pioneers. They appear 
late in the order of creation, and yet precede for an unknown 
period that event in which the second era terminates and the 
third begins, — the introduction of Man upon the stage. 

Man, considered merely as an animal, completes the series of 
living beings. He has all that Life can bestow. It culminates 
in him. He has instincts and an intelligence more exalted 
than those of other animals, but still of the same nature. Kaise 
all the capacities which he has in common with them to their 
highest conceivable power, and he is only the most perfect ani- 
mal. But, according to the view presented in the last chapter, 
he is also endowed with capacities specifically different from 
any which they possess, and these render him capable of en- 
tertaining motives for action of which they can form no concep- 
tion. It is the presence in creation of a being with these endow- 
ments, that constitutes the peculiar feature of the third era. The 
perfect work of animal Life was finished, but man had not be- 
come " a living soul." A spiritual nature is now induced 
upon the vital, as the vital was induced upon the material. 
There is not a more essential difference between the powers 
which govern creation before and after the introduction of Life, 
than there is before and after the introduction of this new prin- 
ciple. Jt is not a difference of degree, but of kind. The most 
highly developed of animals can have no more conception of 
this new nature in Man, than a gas or a crystal can have of the 
nature of a plant or animal. 

But, vast as the difference is between the organic and the in- 
organic, the latter is necessary to the former. The organic can 
exist only by means of the inorganic. The one is founded upon, 
and implanted in the midst of, the other. The organic can only 
exist by entering upon a field which the inorganic has already 
prepared. The case is precisely parallel in this new creation. 
Vast as the difference is between the spiritual nature and the 
animal nature, the latter is as necessary to the former as inorganic 
matter is to life. This new and higher nature of man can only 
be implanted and developed in the midst of the varied nature of 
the animal. We have seen that the living principle secures its 



414 CONCLUSION. 

place and maintains its ground only by a long and laborious 
contest against antagonistic influences. In the same way this new 
principle enters upon a contest with the elements in the midst of 
which it is implanted, which are necessary to its growth and de- 
velopment, and yet whose tendency constantly is to counteract 
and expel it. As an immeasurable and inconceivable period of 
time was occupied in the conflict between life and matter, so, 
too, we have reason to expect a similar duration of the conflict 
between the old life and the new ; but the plan of Providence, 
though not uniformly progressive, will in the end be carried 
out. 

Of this plan, progress from the lower to the higher, and to the 
higher through a preparation by means of the lower, is the es- 
sential feature. Yet there is nothing in this work of prelim- 
inary preparation which at all indicates the character of that 
to which it leads. We see no promise of the wonders of 
organization in the countless combinations of the elements of in- 
organic matter ; nor is there any foreshadowing of that mysteri- 
ous creation, the human soul, in the varied endowments of 
merely animal life. Could we conceive of a modern philosopher, 
who had possessed himself thoroughly of the laws of inorganic 
matter by a study of them only in the first era of creation, con- 
templating the state of things which it exhibits, would he not pro- 
nounce the existence of such an organism as a plant or an animal 
to be incompatible with the known course of nature, — an in- 
fringement upon its infallible and inevitable laws ? And, by 
those who limit their investigations to the phenomena of inor- 
ganic and organic matter alone, is not a corresponding judgment 
pronounced now ? But, as the new law of the life of the animal 
was introduced at the close of the first era of creation, so the 
new law of the life of the soul was introduced at the close of 
the second. In each case there has been inaugurated a new 
principle of existence, more excellent than that which went be- 
fore. As the lowest organized being is immeasurably superior 
to the highest unorganized, — an animalcule to a diamond, — so, 
too, the lowest man is superior to the highest brute. 

What the circumstances were which determined the precise 
period for the successive introduction of these new elements, 



CONCLUSION. 415 

we can only conjecture. As already intimated, life probably 
began as soon as the changes worked out by inorganic laws had 
established such a soil, such an atmosphere, and such a tem- 
perature, as rendered the earth a fit residence for living things. 
Probably, too, 111 e higher principle was imparted as soon as there 
had been introduced among the elements of the animal character 
such a subordination of one to another, such a harmony and rela- 
tion among them, as rendered it possible for that principle to 
take root. It is not impossible that man may have existed as a 
mere animal, and gone through a course of discipline and prepa- 
ration, long before the inspiration of his divine nature took place. 
In favor of such a supposition is the accumulating evidence that 
he has been an inhabitant of the earth for an indefinite period 
before that epoch which tradition, history, and Revelation have 
alike assigned for his appearance. But however this may be, his 
true creation as Man, can only be dated from that moment when 
was first revealed to him, or when he was first endowed with, 
that super-animal principle from which flows all that is distinc- 
tive in his character. Without this principle, and without the 
perception of the moral and divine law which proceeds from it, 
he might have remained for ever of the same nature as the 
beasts that are made like him, and have been superior to them 
only in a higher development of the same faculties as theirs. 

In the successive stages of this work of creation may be traced 
the gradual exhibition of those essential attributes of Deity, — 
Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, — which, although they exist in 
infinity and eternity, are, to our humble conception, developed only 
in space and time. In the first stage there are only evidences of 
Power. The phenomena of this era, when the results to which 
they lead are not realized, seem like the blind strife of antago- 
nistic forces, tending to no end, indicating no purpose, — the efforts 
of immense, undirected Power. In the second, there is still 
Power, but power directed to a definite purpose ; for life and 
organization imply intelligence, design, adaptation of means to 
ends. Infinite Power, and Infinite Wisdom directing it, are the 
characteristics of this era. But in it the Universe has no Moral 
character. Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, have no place in 
it, and no name. Each individual is a solitary self, controlled 



416 CONCLUSION. 

only by his own appetites and his own passions, except so far as 
there exist certain instinctive relations to others, which are 
necessary to the continuance and immediate welfare of the race. 
No infinite continuance of mere animal existence could have 
ever raised it above its original condition. 

In the third stage, with the new principle which enters into 
activity, a new scene begins. Feeble and imperfect in its first 
efforts, and striving at disadvantage with the principles that pre- 
ceded it, it slowly penetrates and implants itself among them. 
Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, are recognized as positive 
attributes of actions and character. Happiness and Misery take 
the place of Pleasure and Pain. Before, the individual had no idea 
but of the good of self, as the spring and motive of action ; now, 
of the good of another. Before, was the reign of self-indulgence ; 
now begins that of self-control. Before, there was no conception 
but of life in the present ; now, not only a conception of life in 
the future, but of the relation of the present to that future. It 
may seem idle to claim that the Deity has interfered with the 
course of nature, so called, by the introduction of a new principle, 
when we are obliged to acknowledge the feebleness of its influ- 
ence over the beings to which it has been imparted. We may 
distrust its paramount strength, we may feel doubt of its ultimate 
predominance. But how impatient is Man ; how patient is Provi- 
dence ! Do we forget how Life struggled, as it were, against 
Death for uncounted centuries, and yet in the end established its 
dominion ? In this triumph is contained a divine promise that 
this last contest, though it may seem as unequal, and be as pro- 
tracted, will in the end accomplish as complete a victory. 

It is only when we can thus contemplate the whole series of 
events in which creation consists, that we attain to a conception 
of the crowning attribute of Deity, — his Goodness ; — his Good- 
ness inspiring his Wisdom ; his Wisdom directing his Power. 
Yet, when we look back from the end to the beginning, and con- 
sider, with our present light, the connection of the beginning with 
the end, we clearly perceive how his attributes have been all 
concerned, and how they have all cooperated from the first in 
the accomplishment of one great scheme. It is in the light only 
of such reflections, that we truly conceive of the great Author of 



CONCLUSION. 417 

the Nature we have studied, as at once the Creator, the Gov- 
ernor, and the Father of his creatures. 

Such considerations may perhaps be deemed foreign to the 
purposes of this work, and lying out of the limits of Philosophy 
and Science. Yet, if we believe, nay if we only hope, that the 
nature and destiny of man are different from that of the animals 
he so much resembles ; surely no considerations which may lead 
him to a better understanding of that nature and destiny, should 
be otherwise than of the highest interest. No relation certainly 
is of so much importance to Man, as that which he bears to the 
Infinite and the Eternal ; and that Philosophy and that Science 
which regard it as a subject unworthy of their attention, and 
hesitate to throw all the light upon it in their power, fail in 
the highest of their duties. There are no subjects toward 
which the thoughts of mankind are more constantly and eagerly 
directed, than those which are connected with this great relation ; 
and all knowledge which can bear upon it, and is not made to do 
so, is like those rivers which, instead of flowing on to the sea, be- 
come stagnant in unwholesome swamps, or lose themselves in 
barren sands. 

It is impossible to close our eyes to the fact, that the prevalent 
tendency of modern science is to put aside, as out of its sphere, 
all those views of Nature which recognize any direct and con- 
tinued personal connection of the Deity with his works. Occu- 
pied in the earnest but exclusive study of phenomena, and their 
reference to the immediate laws by which they are regulated, it 
is reluctant to admit, as a legitimate object of inquiry, any rela- 
tion those laws may have to the will of a universal, conscious, 
personal, moral Intelligence. The idea of Deity to which this 
tendency in Science must finally lead us, is precisely analogous to 
that of the unconscious though intelligent instinct which presides 
over the organic, or vegetable, functions of life. It represents 
Him, therefore, as a being inferior to Man in the kind of his 
attributes, though superior to him in their degree and intensity, 
— since Man, beside this instinct, is possessed also of conscious- 
ness, will, active intelligence, and a sense of moral relations. 
That this is now the actual, if not always the avowed, condition 
of the scientific mind, who can doubt that perceives its all but 
is* 



418 CONCLUSION. 

universal indisposition to admit of any such interference in the 
affairs of the universe, subsequent to its first creation, as is 
implied in a Revelation of religion attested by the exercise of 
supernatural powers, or rather by powers which, so far as we at 
present understand the constitution and course of nature, we 
cannot detect as influencing its ordinary phenomena. 

It has been the constant object of the work now brought to a 
conclusion, to present all those subjects of which it treats in such 
a light as will serve, as far as possible, to counteract this ten- 
dency. Should it be found, in any degree, to have this effect, 
it can answer no more important end. 



QUESTIONS. 



TO THE TEACHER. 

For the sake of brevity in the following Questions, the point is 
sometimes expressed in a single word, leaving the full form to be 
supplied by the teacher. 

In the study of the Introduction, it will be found of much service 
to a class, to require a written analysis of each section, upon paper, 
or upon the black-board, until they are perfectly familiar with the 
entire classification of the animal kingdom, and are able to write it 
readily from memory. 



QUESTIONS 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING BODIES. 

(p. 1 ) What does Natural History in its largest sense embrace ? (p. 2.) 
What is the Philosophy of Natural History ? What is the purpose of the 
present work ? What is the common idea of the distinction between 
living bodies and those not living, and between plants and animals 1 
(p. 3.) What is said of the character of living bodies ? What is the ef- 
fect of death on the body ? What is the bond which connects its elements'? 
What is the influence of the Principle of Life ? (p. 4.) What follows when 
we are deprived of it ? What is the effect of our familiarity with life ? 
What is the influence of the laws of the material world? (p. 5.) What is 
the relation of the animal to them ? Why is a variety of animal forms ne- 
cessary ? Is there a similar variety in the operations of life ? (p. 6.) Into 
what two classes are the objects of the material world divided ? What is 
the first distinction between them ? How are living bodies contrasted with 
the not living ? How are they brought into existence ? (p. 7.) What is 
the relation of sex ? What is the second distinction 1 What is Nutrition ? 
(p. 8.) Anything like it in minerals'? What is the third distinction? 
What is meant by insulation ? How is it illustrated? (p. 9.) What 
degree of heat and cold can be endured by men and animals? — Give 
instances, (p. 10.) Any other illustration of insulation? What is the 
fourth distinction? What is the effect of death ? (p. 11.) What is the 
fifth distinction ? What is said of habit ? — (p. 12. ) Of sleep and torpidity ? 



CHAPTER II. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF ANIMALS AS DISTINGUISHED FROM PLANTS. 

(p. 12.) Is there any single. essential principle of distinction between 
plants and animals ? What was Buffon's opinion ? (p. 13.) Is there any 



422 QUESTIONS. 

real distinction ? State the opinion of Buffon and the objections to it. 
What is the relation between the functions of animal and of vegetable life, 
and their respective mode of performance ? (p. 14.) Give an account of 
the seed and the egg, and their development, (p. 15.) What difference 
is there in the manner in which plants and animals take food ? — In the 
nature of their food? — In their chemical composition ? — (p. 16.) In their 
relation to the atmosphere ? — In their circulation ? — In the permanence 
of their organs ? — In their nutrition and growth ? (p. 17.) What is the 
final cause of this ? What is the result as to their comparative duration 
and growth? (p. 18.) What powers, in addition to those of plants, do 
animals possess ? What are sensation and voluntary motion ? Are there 
exceptions to the exclusive possession of these powers by animals ? 
Describe them and mention examples, (p. 19.) What phenomena of 
the same nature are observed in the growth, motions, and sleep of 
plants ? (p. 20.) What is the probable distinction between these motions 
and those of animals % What is the sensorial power 1 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 

(p. 21.) In what sense is man the most perfect of animals % On what 
does his distinctive character depend ? What are the organic and animal 
functions ? What constitutes the form of man ? What is its basis ? 
How are the bones divided ? Describe those of the head and face, 
(p. 22.) Of the back-bone. What is a vertebra? How many vertebrae, 
and how divided ? What are the cavities of the body, and how formed ? 
(p. 24.) What are the extremities? How are the bones united? How 
are the bones covered ? What are muscles and their use ? How are 
they connected with the bones ? 

(p. 25.) What do the cavities contain? Describe the brain and nerves, 
and their office. — Effect of the injury or obstruction of a nerve. — Senses 
in man compared with other animals. — (p. 27.) Digestion, its mode of 
performance, and by what organs. — Gastric juice and chyme. — Bile 
and pancreatic juice. — (p. 28.) Chyle and its absorption. — Its entrance 
into the blood. — Its change from white to red. 

(p. 29.) Give an account of the course of the blood. What is 
the heart ? How is it divided into parts and cavities ? Give their 
names. Which side receives the blood from the body ? Where does it 
send it ? Where is the blood from the lungs sent ? Which side of the 
heart sends the blood to the body ? Shape and position of the heart. Its 
apex. Which way does it incline ? Why supposed to be on the left side ? 
(p. 30.) What is its main body composed of? What are the auricles ? 
Where does the blood receive the chyle ? With what other veins does 



QUESTIONS. 423 

the subclavian unite on its way to the right auricle ? Where does the 
blood from the upper and lower parts of the body unite on the way to 
the lungs ? What are the two great veins which carry it called % Into 
what cavity of the heart do they pour it ? When the cavity contracts 
where does it send the blood ? What prevents it from flowing back ? 
Where is the blood sent by the right ventricle and through what vessel 1 
What is the color of the blood in the right side of the heart ? Structure 
and extent of the lungs. Distribution of the blood through them. 
Change it undergoes in them, and by what agent. Where conveyed 
from the lungs and how. (p. 31.) Why is the left ventricle more power- 
ful than the right ? By what artery is the blood sent to the body, and 
what is its name, course, and distribution'? What are the capillaries'? 
What becomes of the blood after passing through them ? What is the 
course of the veins 1 Change in the blood in the capillaries. — Its cause. 
What is Nutrition ? — Absorption ? — Excretion ? 



CHAPTER IV. 

STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MAN. 

(p. 32.) Recapitulate the functions by which the life of man is main- 
tained. Are they the same in animals ? Why is a variation in them 
necessary? (p. 33.) Why as to internal as well as external structure? 
What illustration is given of this necessity ? What differences are 
necessary between man and the monkey? (p. 34.) How is this illus- 
trated ? How is a variety of animals necessary to the population of the 
earth ? {p. 35.) What is the final cause of this ? 

What is the correspondence between the structure of animals and their 
mode of life ? What important circumstance of external condition is 
taken as an illustration? What are the organs of respiration respect- 
ively in animals that breathe air and water? — The difference of circulation 
in them ? — (p. 36.) Consequences of this difference in the organs ? State 
the relation between muscular power and amount of respiration. — In Birds 
and Insects. — In Fishes and Reptiles. What modification is rendered 
necessary in the digestive organs? (p. 37.) Similar relations as to other 
functions. What great naturalist has illustrated this law ? State his 
general principle as to the correspondence between structure and func- 
tion. — Its application to the digestive organs. — (p. 38.) Relation between 
the structure of the stomach and that of other organs. — In the jaws. — In 
the neck and vertebrae. — In the teeth and their sockets. — In the bones, 
muscles, and joints of the upper extremities. — (p. 39.) In those of the 
lower, and in the organs of sense. — General application of the principle 
in the determination of extinct species, (p. 40.) Is there the same strict- 
ness as to parts of secondary importance ? How is it in the dog I 



424 QUESTIONS. 

What use is made of this principle in classification ? What is a system 
of classification ? — Divisions universally recognized ? — What is a species ? 
— A variety ? — Give examples. What is a genus ? (p. 41.) What do the 
animals of the Cat-kind constitute I What are the individuals, as tiger, 
leopard, &c. ? Is the wolf a species or a genus I Of what genus % The 
squirrel % How do naturalists designate animals 1 What is the first 
name I — The second ? How do they correspond to the names of men ? 
Examples in the names of animals, (p. 42.) What are the views of 



CHAPTER V. 

GENERAL SUBDIVISIONS OP THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

(p. 43.) In how many grand divisions, or branches, are animals ar- 
ranged ? What are they ? What other divisions are made ? What 
are the characteristics of the first branch, or Vertebrata ? — (p. 44.) Of 
the second, or Articulata? — Of the third, or Mollusca? — (p. 45.) Of 
the fourth, or Radiata? 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIRST BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. — VERTEBRATA. 

(p. 46.) What are the classes of the Vertebrata? What is the dis- 
tinction between the warm-blooded and the cold-blooded classes ? What 
between the two classes of warm-blooded'? (p. 47.) Between the two 
classes of cold-blooded ? 

SECTION I. 

Class I. Mammalia. 

How do monkeys differ from man ! — The carnivorous and gnawing 
animals ? (p. 48.) Characteristics of their structure, (p. 49.) What are 
the variations of structure in the complete quadrupeds ? (p. 50.) With 
what are these connected ? Are they equally complete in all ? How is the 
structure varied in the bat? (p. 51.) Could wings be adapted to man? 
What Mammalia are there which inhabit the water? Describe the 
Amphibia, (p. 52.) Describe the Cetacea. — How do they differ from 
Fishes ? What peculiarity is characteristic of the camelopard ? (p. 53.) 
For what is it intended ? What in the kangaroo ? — In the lion, horse, 
and bull? (p. 54.) What objects are accomplished by the comparative 



QUESTIONS. 425 

structure of these animals ? What are the peculiarities in the formation 
of the camel, giraffe, elephant, and mastodon, and their purposes ? (p. 55.) 
Can we perceive the object of all variations of structure ? Does this 
afford reason for believing they are without purpose ? Why not ? In 
what functions and parts are variations chiefly found ? 

On what considerations is the division of the Mammalia into orders 
founded 1 (p. 56. ) How many kinds of teeth have they ? What are 
the orders of the Mammalia, and what are the characteristics of each 1 

(p. 57.) What is the first order of Mammalia ? What opinion has been 
sometimes entertained of the nature of man ? (p. 58.) What animals does 
he most resemble ? By what is man distinguished from other Mammalia ? 
How do his hands and feet differ from those of monkeys ? (p. 59.) What 
other differences are there ? On what does man's superiority depend ? 
In what is he inferior by nature 1 

How many distinct races of men ? Are the causes of this distinction 
known ? What points of structure distinguish the Caucasian variety ? 
(p. 60.) Why called so % What nations does it include ? What is there 
remarkable in their character ? What are the marks of the Mongolian 
variety'? What have been their history and character? (p. 61.) What 
are the marks of the African variety ? What their history and char- 
acter ? What distinguishes the American variety ? What nations belong 
to it ? What distinguishes the Malay variety ? What nations belong to 
it ? (p. 62.) What division of races does Mr. Pickering propose 1 What 
are the sources of man's superiority to other animals ? (p. 63.) To what 
is his progress owing as compared with them ? What is his primitive 
condition'? (p. 64.) By what means does he emerge from it, and what 
are the causes of his improvement ? 

What is the second order of Mammalia ? How do the Quadrumana 
differ from man ? (p. 65.) For what kind of motion does their structure 
especially fit them ? What are the different kinds ? What is a prehen- 
sile tail, and where are those found that possess it 1 Where is the Orang- 
outang found ? — Describe him. — (p. 66.) The Chimpanzee. — The Gor- 
illa. What are the Howler monkeys 1 

(p. 67.) What is the third order of Mammalia? — Its characteristics'? 
What is the first tribe or family ? — (p. 68.) Describe them. — The Vam- 
pyre. — The Spectre Bat. What is the second tribe ? — Its characteristics ? 
Describe the Hedge-hog. — (p. 69.) The Mole. What is the third tribe ? 

— Their characteristics ? Are they all exclusively carnivorous ? Mention 
some of the principal kinds, and their peculiarities, (p. 70.) Describe the 
Dog. — The animals of the Cat-kind. — The Lion. — (p. 71.) The Tiger. 
What is the fourth tribe ? How do the Amphibia differ from other quad- 
rupeds ? — Seals. 

(p. 72.) What is the fourth order of Mammalia* — Its characteristics? 
What is the peculiarity of the teeth of the Rodentia ? Describe the 
Beaver. — (p. 73.) The Jerboa. — The Canadian Jerboa. — The Hamster. 

— (p. 74.) The Louisiana Marmot. — The Porcupine. 



426 QUESTIONS. 

What is the fifth order? — Origin of their name? — Characteristics'? 
Describe the Three-toed Sloth. — (p. 75. ) Armadillo. — Ant-eater. 

What is the sixth order t (p. 76.) What are its characteristics ? 
What is rumination ? How mauy stomachs have the ruminants ? — 
Their names? (p. 77.) What is the value of the ruminants to man? 
Describe the Camel and Dromedary. — (p. 78. ) The Llama. — The Ameri- 
can Bison. — The Camelopard, or Giraffe. Which of the ruminants are 
destitute of horns ? 

What is the seventh order % (p. 79. ) Why called Pachydermata ? 
Describe the Elephant. — Its tusks. — Its trunk. — How many species of 
it ? — The Mastodon. — (p. 80.) The Hippopotamus. — The Rhinoceros. — 
The Tapir. — The Wild Boar. (p. 81.) What are the Solipeda ? Name 
the several species. — Their character and mode of life. 

(p. 82.) What is the eighth order ? How do whales differ from fishes ? 
Describe the herbivorous Cetacea. (p. 83.) What are the blowers % De- 
scribe the great Greenland Whale. — (p. 84.) The Spermaceti Whales. — 
What is ambergris ? 

What is the ninth order ? The original distribution of the Marsupialia 
and Monotremeta. — Chief characteristic of the Marsupials? — (p. 85.) 
Of the female. Describe the Opossum. — The Phalangers. — The Flying 
Opossum, (p. 86.) The Merian Opossum. — The Kangaroo. 

What is the tenth order ? What is the most remarkable species ? De- 
scribe the Ornithorhyncus. — The Echidna. 



SECTION II. 

Class II Birds. 

(p. 87.) What is the reason of the uniformity of structure in Birds ? 
What is the peculiarity in the locomotion of Birds, and how does it in- 
fluence their structure? (p. 88.) What is the connection between their 
locomotion and the extent of their respiration ? What peculiarity is there 
in their bones? — And what advantage from it? — (p. 89.) And from 
the construction of their skeleton ? What nice adjustment is necessary 
in the act of flying ? How is the equilibrium preserved ? (p. 90.) How 
does the bird maintain its posture as a biped ? How does it differ from 
that of man ? (p. 91.) How does it maintain its position in sleep ? What 
are the structure and relative proportions of the head and neck ? Com- 
pare the body of a bird with that of a quadruped, (p. 92.) How is the 
economy of muscular power in the bird shown in its posture ? — In the 
size of its foot? (p. 93.) What are the circumstances which make the 
structure and motions of birds so remarkable ? What is the covering of 
birds, and its adaptation to their functions ? 

(p. 94.) On what points is the scientific arrangement of Birds founded ? 
How many orders ? What is the first order ? — Its characteristics ? De- 
scribe the diurnal Accipitres. — The nocturnal, (p. 95.) What is the 



QUESTIONS. 427 

second order f — Its characteristics 1 What birds are included under the 
Passeres 1 (p. 96.) Describe the Bird of Paradise and the Humming Bird. 
What is the third order ? — Its characteristics 1 (p. 97.) What birds are in- 
cluded under the Scansores % Describe the Woodpecker. — The Toucan.. 
What is the fourth: order ? What birds are included under it % — Their 
characteristics ? (p. 98.) In what do Pigeons differ from the other 
Gallinacese ? — The Crowned Pigeon. What is the fifth order ? How are 
the Grallse distinguished? What birds are included? (p. 99.) The 
Ostrich and Cassowary. What is the sixth order ? How are the Anseres 
distinguished ? What birds are included ? 

(p. 100.) Describe some of the peculiarities of the Accipitres as con- 
trasted with the Grallas. (p. 101.) How are the Grallae enabled to stand 
long without great strength of limb ? How is it with the Ostrich % 
What orders does the Ostrich form a link between 1 What is the division 
of power in the Passeres and Scansores 1 In the Anseres, or Palmipedes 1 
(p. 102.) What is there peculiar in Guillemots and Auks ? 



SECTION III. 

Class III. Reptiles. 

What is the third class of vertebral animals ? What animals does the 
class of Reptiles include ? (p. 103.) How are their circulation and respira- 
tion performed % What is the effect of this on their blood and heat ? — 
On their general habits of life ? (p. 104.) How many orders'? How is 
the first order, the Chelonia, distinguished ? — The carapace. — The plas- 
tron. — Of what are these composed ? What animals belong to this order 1 
The second order f What animals are included in the Sauria ? Describe 
the Crocodile. — (p. 105.) The Dragon. — The Chameleon, (p. 106.) 
The third order ? How distinguished ? How are the Ophidia divided ? 
Describe those not venomous. Describe the venomous. — Their fangs. 
— The Rattlesnake. — (p. 107.) The fourth order? How do the heart 
and circulation of the Batrachia differ from those of other orders ? For 
what are they principally remarkable ? Describe their transformations. 
Are these complete in all ? — The Lepidosiren. 

SECTION IV. 

Class IV. Fishes. 

(p. 108.) What is the relation which the several classes of Vertebra ta 
bear to the medium in which they live ? — The difference between Birds 
and Fishes ? (p. 109.) What is the effect of this on their structure, es- 
pecially as to the . muscular system, respiration, and circulation ! De- 
scribe the gills. — Mode in which respiration is performed by them. 
Does the skeleton differ from that of the other classes \ (p. 110.) To 



428 QUESTIONS. 

what do the fins correspond 1 — Their office ? What is the air-bag? — Its 
contents'? — (p. 111.) Its supposed office? — Objections'? — Its probable 
purpose 1 ? — (p. 112.) Its connection with respiration 1 ? Describe their 
covering. — Teeth. — Means of defence. — Their brain and senses. — 
Skeleton. — Digestive organs. — Food. — Their division into orders. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SECOND BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. ARTICULATA. 

(p. 113.) What is the most interesting class ? Describe the characters 
of Insects, (p. 114.) What is their substitute for a skeleton? Are all 
winged? (p. 115.) How are their bodies divided? Describe the head. 

— Any brain? — Their senses. Describe their mouth, jaws, and mode 
of feeding. — Their extremities and wings. — Number of legs. (p. 116.) 
Number and structure of wings. — The balancers. Describe the abdomen. 

— How is it sometimes terminated ? What are their metamorphoses ? 
(p. 117.) Give an account of that of the Butterfly. — The larva. — The 
chrysalis. — The perfect state. What useful purposes do Insects serve ? 
(p. 118.) Into how many orders does Linnseus divide Insects ? And on what 
does he found the division ? Name the first order, and its character, with 
examples. The second order, and its character, with examples, (p. 119.) 
The third order, — character, — examples. The fourth order, — character, 

— examples, (p. 120.) The fifth order, — character, — examples. What 
is said of the Ant, Wasp, and Bee ? (p. 121.) The sixth order, — character, 

— examples. The seventh order, — character. — What are included under 
the Aptera ? (p. 122.) The Spider. Habitations and habits of spiders, 

— The Tarantula and Scorpion, (p. 123.) What is said of the Crustacea? 
Describe the principal points of their structure, (p. 124.) How are they 
covered ? How do they change their shells ? Describe their claws. — 
Organs of sense. What is there peculiar in their stomach? (p. 125.) 
How is the term Worm used ? What are the Annelida ? — Their nervous 
system ? — Their blood, circulation, and respiration ? — Limbs ? — Mouths ? 
—Bodies?— Habitations? — (p. 126.) The Earth-worm ? — The Leech? — 
The Gordius ? 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THIRD BRANCH OP THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. MOLLUSCA. 

(p. 127.) What are included? — Examples. Give a general description 
of their structure. What is the mantle ? How is it arranged? (p. 128.) 



QUESTIONS. 429 

Describe their shells. — Any brain 1 — Their nervous system. — Respira- 
tion and circulation. — Heart and blood. — Their organs of digestion. 
(p. 129. ) How are the Mollusca divided into classes ? Describe those 
of the first class. What peculiarity have some of them ? What is 
said of the size of some of them? (p. 130.) Describe the Mollusca of 
another class. Examples. Describe another class. — Examples. — The 
common Clam. — (p. 131.) The Giant Clam. — What is the organ called 
the foot ? How are the shells of the bivalve Mollusca connected % 



CHAPTER IX. 

FOURTH BRANCH OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. RADIATA. 

What animals are included under this branch ? (p. 132.) What were 
they formerly called ? Give a general account of their structure. Are 
there any exceptions ? What are they ? What are the organs of motion 
in the Echinodermata ? Describe the Starfish. — (p. 133.) The Sea- 
nettles or Sea-anemones. — The Medusae. — The Polypes. — (p. 134.) 
The Animalcules, or Infusoria, (p. 135.) What is a peculiarity in 
the structure of some of the Infusoria ? What facts are there con- 
cerning their minuteness, immense numbers, and prolific nature % (p. 136. ) 
How does the view of the animal creation illustrate the attributes of its 
Creator ? 



430 QUESTIONS. 



PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. 

FOOD, DIGESTION, AND BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 

(p. 137.) What is said of the correspondence between the organs of 
digestion and the form of animals ? — And of man and other animals below 
him, in regard to their food, organs of digestion, and other organs % 
(p. 138.) What is said of the natural food of man as compared with 
that of other animals ? Mention the food of various races. What 
relation do health and strength bear to the kind of food? (p. 139.) 
What is the effect of heat on food ? Is there any essential difference in 
kinds of food ? 

What is said of the natural food of man? — (p. 140.) Of his food 
in different climates and under different circumstances 1 — Of it in 
Africa ? — Of the consumption of fat in cold climates ? Mention some 
examples, (p. 141.) Any connection between kinds of food and powers 
of motion'? (p. 142.) What is the best food for man? — Any excep- 
tions ? How is man determined in his choice of food ? Mention some 
examples. Describe a strange kind of food which is sometimes resorted 
to. (p. 143.) To what is its nutrient power attributed ? Cases men- 
tioned by Dr. Livingstone. What is the effect of a very exclusive diet ? 

— Examples, (p. 144.) To what is owing man's power of accommo- 
dating himself to different residences ? What effect has the want of 
this on animals ? How are these facts connected with the distribution 
of animals over the earth ? What is the relation of animals to plants 
and to each other as food ? (p. 145.) How is the suffering from this re- 
lation mitigated ? Examples which illustrate this. (p. 146.) Mention a 
statement of Dr. Livingstone. 

How is man directed in his choice of food ? How are animals ? Are 
their tastes uniform in this respect ? (p. 147.) Have they a power of ac- 
commodating themselves to unnatural food ? What limits to this ? Ex- 
amples. What is idiosyncrasy ? Examples of it. (p. 148.) Relate an 
instance from Reaumur of adaptation of food to particular species. 

(p. 149.) On what has the digestion of food been supposed to depend ? To 
what is it probably due ? On what kinds of stomach did Spallanzani ex- 
periment ? Describe the results of his experiments upon birds with strong 
gizzards, when perforated metallic balls were used, with grain unbruised, 

— (p. 150,) with grain bruised, — with tin tubes, — with pieces of glass, — 



QUESTIONS. 431 

with strong tin needles, — with lancets, (p. 151.) What was his opinion of 
the stones found in the gizzards of birds 1 Is it well founded ? Describe 
his results on stomachs of an intermediate kind, with tubes of tin and lead, 
— with unbroken grain and seeds, — with the same bruised, (p. 152.) 
What was the result of his experiments on membranous stomachs 1 De- 
scribe Dr. Stevens's experiments on the action of the human stomach 
on raw flesh, — on boiled — on chewed meat, (p. 153,) on vege- 
tables. — His experiments on dogs and ruminating animals. What in- 
ference does he draw as to the natural food of man? (p. 154, note.) 
How far is this opinion correct "? State the results of Dr. Beaumont on 
digestion. What effect does the stomach produce upon living animals ? 
Mr. Hunter's remark, (p. 155.) Why does not the stomach digest itself 1 ? 
Why does it digest itself after death ? 

What is the ultimate purpose of digestion ? What is the appearance, 
&c, of the blood ? (p. 156. ) What changes take place in the blood when out 
of the blood-vessels ? Describe the serum. — The crassamentum. — The 
red globules. — Their diameter in man. — In other animals, (p. 157.) 
How are the different organs formed from the blood ? — How the fluids f 
What are the constituent parts of the blood called ? What are its ultimate 
elements 1 What is their relation to the proximate ? Is any one of the 
proximate elements really more essential than another 1 (p. 158.) 
Where are the proximate elements manufactured 1 What article is a 
type of food ? What does milk contain ? How does it compare with 
other aliments ? What are condiments, and their use ? (p. 159.) What 
is the relation of common salt to food ? What circumstances determine 
the proper quantity of food % What is the relative growth at different 
ages ? — In the lower animals % 



CHAPTER II. 

CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. 

(p. 160.) What was stated of the circulation in the Introduction ? 
What is the time occupied by the circulation ? Describe the mode in 
which the blood flows through the arteries and veins. What peculiarity 
is there in the mode in which the arteries pass along the limbs ? 

(p. 161.) Why do they pass on the inside of the limbs? What effect 
from arrest of circulation ? What else is necessary as to the blood \ Why 
is the heart a particular subject of admiration ? (p. 162.) What natural 
objects are especially indicative of creative design ? How is this ac- 
counted for ? Why nothing singular in this ? 

(p. 163.) What effect has respiration ? What is the air ? What is its 
composition ? On which element does it chiefly depend for its vitalizing 
influence? (p. 164.) How necessary is air to life? On what does its 



432 QUESTIONS. 

necessity depend ? In what does the change consist in red-blooded ani- 
mals % How is respiration performed in the Mammalia ? How long may 
it be suspended % What is the fact with regard to pearl-divers ? Will any 
air but atmospheric support life ? How do water and some gases destroy 
life? 

(p. 165.) How much air do the lungs contain when full ? How much 
is drawn in and expelled at each respiration ? What change takes place 
in the air ? What connection is there between respiration and animal 
heat ? What is the explanation of its production ? Is this probably the 
only cause ? (p. 166.) Is there any variation in the proportion of oxygen % 
On what does the healthiness of different regions depend ? What change 
takes place at birth ? What is the connection between the action of the 
heart and lungs ? What is the effect, if their functions cease J 

(p. 167.) What other purposes has respiration'? How is communica- 
tion between animals effected ? How is speech performed ? On what 
does dumbness depend? How is laughing performed? — (p. 168.) How 
weeping? — Are they common to animals? How do animals express 
pleasure, pain, and other emotions ? 

Describe the respiration of Birds, (p. 169.) What purposes does this 
provision answer ? Its connection with their lightness, motions, and con- 
sumption of air. What is said of the voice of birds ? Where and how 
is voice produced in Mammalia and in them? (p. 170.) On what do 
its variations depend ? What else is stated of voice ? 

What is the structure of the lungs in Reptiles ? — And their mode of 
respiration? — Their endurance of its suspension? (p. 171.) What is 
their temperature ? — Their power of enduring heat and cold ? 

How is the respiration of Fishes carried on ? — Through what me- 
dium ? If they are deprived of air, what is the effect? (p. 172.) De- 
scribe an experiment with the air-pump on carp. 

How is air supplied to Insects ? (p. 173.) Give an account of Reaumur's 
observations on rat-tailed worms. Describe the structure of the tail. 
Transformation of the worms, (p. 174.) Describe the respiration of 
another species of worm. State the provision for the supply of air to 
animals in various stages of transformation, e. g. the rat-tailed worm in 
the chrysalis state — (p. 175,) — the dragon-fly — the ephemeron fly. — 
(p. 176.) Opinions of Clutius and Reaumur. 

How do Crustacea, Worms, and Mollusca respire ? — How the Radiata ? 



CHAPTER III. 

CONNECTION OF ANIMALS WITH HEAT, LIGHT, AND ELECTRICITY. 

(p. 177.) How extensive is the power of maintaining an independent 
temperature ? How is it in the lower animals ? — In Reptiles ? — In In- 



QUESTIONS. 433 

sects ? — In bees ? — (p. 178.) — In the common caterpillar ? What con- 
nection has it with the health — when is it least vigorous 1 What is said 
of hardening children ? (p. 179.) What variations are there in the heat- 
making power ? What is said with regard to effects of exposure on 
health ? , When are diseases from cold most prevalent ? When is the 
heat-making power at its minimum ? — Its maximum ? What inferences 
are drawn as to clothing and artificial heat ? 

(p. 180.) What is said of relations of animals to light? — Of luminous 
insects ? Is the cause and mode of its production understood ? What 
luminous animals are most numerous ? State the remarks in the note, 
(p. 181.) What is said of the connection of light with health? Give the 
anecdote illustrating this connection ? What is the experience of army- 
physicians ? (p. 182.) What is said of light for invalids ? 

Is there any connection between electricity and the bodies of ani- 
mals % Describe the phenomena presented by electrical fishes. — The 
organ by which the electricity is developed. How have these animals been 
captured ? (p. 183.) Under what conditions is the shock communi- 
cated ? Does this power exist in any other animals, and what are they ? 
Under what circumstances has electricity been developed in the animal 
body. Describe the phenomena, (p. 184.) What is the connection of 
the weather with them'? What effects are produced on the human 
frame ? — On the character of winds and weather ? — On animals ? 



CHAPTER IV. 

MOTIONS OF ANIMALS. 



(p. 185.) How many distinct kinds of motion are there by which the 
functions are performed'? — Name them and describe them. Which kind 
are the most complete ? Do voluntary motions ever become involuntary ? 
Is it always easy to distinguish them ? (p. 186.) By what organs are the 
motions performed ? What are muscles ? — Their structure ? Is the muscle 
itself always fixed to the bone ? What is the purpose of a tendon, and 
how does it operate? — What example illustrates this? (p. 187.) How 
far are the size and shape of parts dependent on muscle ? State the 
connection between the use of muscles and their development. What is 
the inherent power of muscle ? How is it called into activity ? — Its nat- 
ural exciter, (p. 188.) Influence of various circumstances on muscular 
contraction. What difference between the muscles of the old and the 
young? — Practical inference ? What precautions are recommended as 
to muscular exercise in the young? (p. 189.) To what motions does 
nature prompt young animals ? What is said of dancing I 

What different positions are assumed by animals ? — By man I — What 
is said of it ? By birds ? (p. 190.) Is standing on four feet easier than 
19 



434 QUESTIONS. 

on two ? State the remarks on certain mechanical provisions in relation 
to the posture of quadrupeds. 

How many modes of progression ? Describe them and their differ- 
ence. Which is the most fatiguing'? Describe walking on two feet, 
(p. 191.) What difference in the young, the old, and the feeble ? What 
assists in keeping the balance ? Describe the walk of the horse. — The 
trot. — (p. 192. ) The gallop. — The half gallop. — The pace. — The rack. 
By which feet is the impulse forward given ? (p. 193.) How is this when 
there is great disparity between the limbs, as in the kangaroo and camel- 
opard ? The natural pace of different animals. 

What is an essential point of difference between motions on land and 
in air or water? Describe the rise and flight of Birds. — The effects of 
different obliquity of the wings, (p. 194.) How do Fishes perform their 
various motions ? 

State circumstances relative to the motions, speed, and endurance of 
various animals, (p. 195.) Compare the motions of small animals with 
those of large. — Which manifest the greatest power in .proportion to 
size ? State what is said of the speed of Birds. — Of the ostrich, — crow, 
— eider-duck, — hawk, — falcon, — (p. 196,) — canary-bird. Of the mo- 
tions of Fishes and Whales. Of motion by suction, — in Insects, — in 
the walrus and seal. — In a species of lizard, — in the remora. 

(p. 197.) Describe the various motions of Insects. — Their rapidity 
and continuance, — how illustrated in a railroad carriage ? — Their speed 
in running, (p. 198.) Their climbing, swimming, and diving, and bur- 
rowing. Describe the motions of mussels. — What is their trunk or 
tongue ? — How do they use this in progressive motion ? 



CHAPTER V. 

VOICE OF ANIMALS, AND THEIR MODES OF COMMUNICATION. 

(p. 199.) What is the purpose of sounds in Nature 1 What is proper 
voice, and to what animals is it confined ? — How produced 1 — On what 
principle'? (p. 200.) State the distinction between voice and articula- 
tion. — The difference between vowel and consonant sounds. Of which 
does the voice of animals chiefly consist % What approach to consonants 
is there in some % (p. 201.) What indications are there in monkeys of 
intercommunication by language % 

Among which of the invertebral animals are the principal ex- 
amples of sound ? — Point out the distinctions between them as to their 
object. — Give other examples of insect sounds, (p. 202.) Are there 
probably other means of communication among them ? — State examples 
of this in ants. (p. 203.) To what organs does Huber attribute this 
power ? How do they use the antennae in battle ? — in their dwellings 1 — 



QUESTIONS. 435 

in the administration of food, &c. ? (p. 204.) Have we any distinct con- 
ception of these communications ? What example is given of the probable 
production of sounds by shell-fishes ? In what cases does the production 
of sounds by animals imply the sense of hearing ? (p. 205.) Is it proba- 
ble that the power of appreciating sounds is extensively diffused among 
the lower animals ? How far may the prevision of insects depend on an 
exquisite power of this kind ? 



CHAPTER VI. 

SENSATION IN GENERAL. FEELING AND TOUCH. TASTE. SMELL. 

(p. 206.) What is the relation between the wants, appetites, &c, of the 
animal and his senses ? What is the connection between the nature of 
the guiding principle of the operations of an animal and the need of the 
senses by which to act ? (p. 207.) How many senses may there be ? 

What is the probable amount of sensation in the lowest Radiata ? 
What change takes place as we ascend the scale of being % Where do 
smell and taste become entirely distinct from general feeling, and sight 
and hearing appear? — (p. 208.) Their relation to freedom of motion. 

— Same relation in Insects. How diffused is the general sense of feel- 
ing ? In what part does it chiefly reside ? How is touch distinguished 
from it ? How is touch exercised, and on what conditions does its 
nicety depend? (p. 209.) What is its most perfect organ ? — What the 
next ? Trace the gradual deterioration of the organs of touch through 
different animals. What is the relation of the senses to the organs ? 
(p. 210.) What parts have a nice touch in quadrupeds ? State the con- 
nection of this with their mode of taking food. Describe the nicety of 
the sense in bats, and how shown. How is this sense in Birds, Reptiles, 
Fishes, and Insects ? 

Of what qualities does taste inform us? (p. 211.) Describe its char- 
acter in different animals. The difference between the pleasure of taste 
and of taking food. Describe the seat of taste and the manner in which 
it is produced. 

(p. 212.) Describe odors, so far as their nature is understood. — The 
phenomena attendant on their diffusion. State the distinction between 
the irritation produced by an odorous body and its proper odor. What 
is said of the singular and curious character of the phenomena of odor ? 

— (p. 213.) Of the relation of smell and taste to the appetite and choice of 
food ? Where does the smell reside in animals that breathe air \ — In 
those that breathe water ? 



436 QUESTIONS. 



CHAPTEE VII. 



(p. 214.) How is sound produced ? Is hearing necessary to the per- 
ception of its vibrations ? How frequent must be the vibrations to con- 
stitute sound ? On what does pitch depend ? Is the transmission of 
sound confined to air ? At what rate does it travel ? What causes 
vary this rate in the air, and how much'? (p. 215.) How much is it 
varied in other bodies ? — In carbonic acid gas ? — in crown glass ? ■ — in 
other solids and liquids ? State an experiment on the rate in cast-iron. 
State the facts which illustrate the conveyance of minute sounds, and why 
this takes place better through solid substances than air. — The difficulty 
with which they pass from one medium to another. 

(p. 216.) What is the office of hearing ? — Its relation to sight ? What 
difference is there in animals as to the information from this sense ? On 
what does it depend ? How much can we teach animals by language ? 
(p. 217.) State the necessity of the modification of the organ of hearing 
in different animals. 

What are the qualities of sound that man can distinguish ? Give a 
general description of the ear. What is the essential part % For what 
purposes are the secondary parts intended? (p. 218.) What is the dif- 
ference between the ear of the higher and of the lower animals ? Give a 
particular account of the structure of the ear. — Of the external ear. — Its 
office. — (p. 219.) Of the tympanum. — Its membrane. — Its function. — 
Of the small bones. — Of the labyrinth. — (p. 220.) Of the mode in 
which these parts concur in the production of hearing. — Of the function 
of the drum analogous to that of the iris of the eye. Are these parts 
varied in other animals, and why ? 

On what does distinctness of sound depend ? The different qualities of 
sound in this respect ? State Dr. Wollaston's observations on sounds in- 
audible to certain ears. (p. 221.) How do we judge of the direction of 
sounds 1 How are they modified ? How does the ventriloquist avail 
himself of this 1 Are animals superior to man in judging of direc- 
tion ? Why? How do we judge of distance? (p. 222.) What cir- 
cumstances influence the apparent distance ? What is the effect of habit 
and education on our judgment ? Example. What inference as to sound 
may be drawn from this ? (p. 223.) What interval of sound can we ap- 
preciate ? What effect has this upon sounds as they reach the ear ? — In 
combining reflections of a sound with the original ? What influence do 
bodies probably produce on the sounds they reflect ? (p. 224.) What in- 
ferences are drawn from this as to the information that may be derived 
from sounds ? — Example, as to the construction of rooms for music and 
and public speaking. — As to echoes. 



QUESTIONS. 437 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SIGHT. EDUCATION OF THE SENSES, AND THEIR COMBINATION AND 
RECIPROCAL RELATIONS. 

(p. 225-6.) What is a camera-obscura ? How is an image produced in 
it % Explain by the diagram its resemblance to the eye. Describe the 
coats of the eye. Which receives the image of external objects ? What 
is the cornea ? — (p.. 227.) The crystalline lens ? — The aqueous humor ? 

— The vitreous humor ? — The iris ? — The retina ? Describe the office 
of these parts. — The color of the inside of the eye. Why is it black ? 
How is the eye situated ? — How moved ? — How protected ? (p. 228.) 
What is the use of the tears 2 Describe the manner in which they are 
diffused, &c. What is the use of the eyebrows and eyelashes ? 

What is the optic axis, and how is vision related to it ? Can we see 
any object except in the line of this axis ? What is said of the seat of 
direct vision ? (p. 229.) How long after a sensation does its impression con- 
tinue 1 What phenomena are explained by this ? Why cannot a moving 
body be represented ? Explain the stationary appearance of a moving 
body as seen by lightning. What is stated of the point of the retina at 
which the optic nerve enters'? (p. 230.) Describe experiments which 
illustrate this. Explain the office of the iris. Is it influenced except by 
light ? Explain several phenomena connected with the iris. (p. 231-2.) 
Is there any other cause for them % Describe the phenomena of accidental 
colors. Explain the cause of them. What do these facts indicate'? — 
Of what practical application are they capable? (p. 233.) What other 
phenomena are described ? What is said of the insensibility of certain 
eyes to some colors ? Examples. 

(p. 234.) What two questions concerning vision have excited contro- 
versy ? What is said of the first ? — Of the second ? How great is the 
range of single vision ? What objects appear single ? Why do they 
appear so ? What inference is drawn as regards place ? Describe an 
experiment which illustrates this. When does an object appear single ? 
(p. 235.) How does this explain the phenomena of the stereoscope ? 

What is the effect of education and experience on sight ? — Its state at 
and after birth ? (p. 236.) How do we judge of the position of bodies ? 

— Of their perpendicularity % Explain the optical phenomena in a ship 
at sea. (p. 237.) How do we estimate the distances of near objects ? 

— How of more remote ? (p. 238.) What is the effect of vividness and 
distinctness? — Examples. How are we aided by intervening objects? 
What renders it difficult to judge of objects not on the same level ? 

(p. 239.) How is the most simple idea of the motion of a body pro- 
duced ? Do all movements of the image over the retina produce it ? — 
When do they not ? Apply this to the explanation of phenomena of rail- 



438 QUESTIONS. 

road carriages. — Of vessels on the water. — Of trees, while moving among 
them. — Of the heavenly bodies. Explain various cases of apparent mo- 
tions, (p. 240.) What is the natural relation of the eyes to the will? 
What is the effect when the control of the will is suspended ? Explain diz- 
ziness. — The connection of these facts with disease. — With sea-sickness. 

(p. 241.) What is the residence of the different senses'? — Of the 
touch ? Describe the connection of the face with the organs of sense. 
What inferences do we draw as to the character of the animal ? (p. 
242-3.) Describe the orbit, and its direction in different animals. — In 
man. — In monkeys, and its effect on their expression. — In other Mamma- 
lia, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes. — In whales. — In lizards. What relation 
is there between the direction of the axes and the character and habits of 
animals ? Does the size of the eye bear any relation to that of the ani- 
mal ? — What indication from a large eye 1 — Apparent exception in bats. 

What is said of the range of distinct vision ? — In man and quadru- 
peds ? — (p. 244.) In Birds ? — In birds of prey ? — Examples. — Is the 
explanation understood ? What modification do the eyes of Fishes 
require ? — (p. 245. ) By what change is it effected ? What common 
facts require explanation ? What conditions are necessary in order to 
see clearly from one medium into another ? When does vision become 
indistinct ? Apply this principle to the vision of fishes, (p. 246.) Ex- 
plain the effect, on vision, of ground glass. — Of an uneven surface of 
water. — Of unequally heated air, and of cold air. What account is 
given of vision in animals that live both in air and water, as in reptiles 
and whales ? 

(p. 247.) What is the office of the third eyelid in birds ? — its name ? 
Of the eyelid in fishes ? (p. 248.) What is said of the organs of vision 
in the lower animals ? Of the eyes in insects ? What is a simple eye ? 
— A compound eye ? How many lenses may this have ? Why has 
it so many ? (p. 249.) What remark is made of animals lower in the 
scale ? 

What is our condition as to the senses in adult life ? — In infancy ? — 
In what does their education consist % What are the first impressions on 
the mind of the infant? (p. 250.) What two senses are principally edu- 
cated together ? How does the child first learn the existence of anything 
beside himself? — What is the next process ? Why is the hearing less 
rapidly educated than sight ? — (p. 251.) What is its ultimate compara- 
tive importance ? — Its connection with language ? After their educa- 
tion, on what senses do we most depend? (p. 252.) What is said of the 
order in which the senses are educated ? What is the exercise of the 
senses in animals ? On what depends the superiority of the senses in 
man? — (p. 253.) Of the smell in quadrupeds ? — What example? 
What sense predominates in different classes? What unaccountable 
phenomena are there ? What is said of the senses in insects ?— Men- 
tion an example in bees. (p. 254.) Describe the powers of insects in 
foreseeing the weather. 



QUESTIONS. 439 

CHAPTER IX. 

REPRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION. 

(p. 255.) What is the medium of the transmission of life from one 
individual to another ? What is incubation ? State the conditions ne- 
cessary to it. — What degree of heat is necessary? [Note.] (p. 256.) 
What is said of the comparative tenacity of life in the eggs of different 
animals'? State Capt. Franklin's remark, &c. What is said of mois- 
ture ? — (p. 257.) Of air ? What inference is drawn from these facts % 
Describe the instinct of animals as connected with their young. — (p. 258.) 
Give examples. Effects of the instinct of maternity'? — Examples. 
(p. 259.) Is this instinct unerring. — (p. 260.) How is it in Fishes? 
— In insects ? 

(p. 261.) What other modes of reproduction beside that by eggs? 
What is said of the regeneration of parts ? (p. 262.) What is said of 
the changes which take place during life in man and other animals ? — 
Of the transformation of the frog ? — (p. 263.) — - Of insects ?— (p. 264.) 
Of other animals ? What analogy do these facts bear to some in the 
higher animals ? 



CHAPTER X. 

DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. — COVERING, MIGRATION, AND HYBERNATION. 

(p. 265.) How were animals originally located and distributed? On 
what circumstances does their distribution depend? (p. 266.) How far 
are the animals of different regions distinct ? What difference between 
those of the Old World and the New ? Any reason for inferring a superi- 
ority of the former, (p. 267.) How is it in Australia ? How are the un- 
favorable effects of climate obviated ? 

What changes take place in the covering of animals, (p. 268.) What 
in the color, of it, and how do these changes serve to protect them from 
cold and heat? (p. 269.) How is the effect of a black skin in hot cli- 
mates explained ? 

What animals chiefly migrate? What varieties in the migration of 
Birds, and on what do they depend ? (p. 270.) Describe the course taken 
in migration. — What examples are given ? — The bobolink, &c. — (p. 271.) 
Snow-birds, &c. — (p. 272.) The snow-bunting. — The wild goose. — Its 
probable northern resort. — (p. 273.) The swallow. 

(p. 274.) What is a state of Torpidity ? What purpose does it answer ? 
What quadrupeds hybernate ? — The position taken? (p. 275.) What 
precautions are taken ? What variations in the state of torpidity ? The 



440 QUESTIONS. 

state of respiration, circulation, and animal heat ? How are these varied 
by circumstances ? (p. 276.) How does the action of the heart vary ? How 
is the torpid state brought on ? How may it be prevented ? Hoav does 
it vary in different animals ? — (p. 277.) In the marmot ? — Hamster ? 
What is the ultimate purpose of hybernation? (p. 278.) What is the 
effect of extreme cold 1 — Object of this provision ? In what condition do 
animals come out of the torpid state ? Its connection with the constitu- 
tion ? (p. 279.) Has it any connection with the state into which man 
falls from extreme cold. 

What is said of torpidity among the lower classes ? — Reptiles, Fishes, 
and Insects ? — The snail? (p. 280.) W 7 hat effects have been observed 
from deprivation of moisture ? Describe some examples of imbedded 
toads and frogs. — (p. 281.) Instance of torpidity in man. (p. 282.) How 
are animals protected against heat and dryness! What is meant by aes- 
tivation ? — Give some examples of it. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 



(p. 283.) What varieties are there in the habitations of animals 1 De- 
scribe those of the Alpine Marmot. — (p. 284-5.) — Of the Beaver. — 
(p. 286.) Of the Mole. (p. 287.) What is said of the nests of Birds ? — 
Of the rapacious tribes ? — Of the Eagle ? — (p. 288.) Of the Tailor- 
bird ? — Of the Baya ? (p. 289. ) Of the Waders ? — Of the Republican 
Grosbeak? — (p. 290.) Of the Bower-bird? — Of the Brush Turkey ? — 
(p. 291.) What are the largest nests ever found ? 

Describe the nests of the Mason Bee. — (p. 292.) Of two other 
species of Solitary Bees. (p. 393.} — Describe the construction of the comb 
and cells of the Honey-Bee. What differences are there in the construc- 
tion of the cells, and for what purpose ? (p. 294.) Describe the manner 
in which their labors are carried on. By what process is wax produced ? 

— And from what ? (p. 295.) What is Huber's account of this process ? 
Describe the manner in which, and the instruments with which, bees 
work. (p. 296.) What is propolis? For what is it used? (p. 297.) 
How do bees dispose of animals that enter their hives ? How do they 
collect and dispose of honey 7 (p. 298.) Describe their mode of feeding 
each other. 

Describe the construction of Wasps' nests. — (p. 299.) The material 
of which they are composed. Where do they build them ? Describe 
their external and internal arrangement. — (p. 300.) The number of cells. 

— Of young wasps produced. — Mode in which wasps build, (p. 301.) 
What takes place when a nest is removed into a hive. How do wasps 
collect materials, and where? (p. 302.) Describe the different kinds 



QUESTIONS. 441 

of wasps in each community. — Their several occupations, collection 
and kind of food, and its distribution, (p. 303.) How are the young 
taken care of and fed? — Their metamorphosis, (p. 304.) For which 
kind are the firsl; and greatest number of cells prepared % Why is this % 
What is the duration of the life of Wasps ? Which kind survive the 
winter ? Which kind found new communities ? The difference be- 
tween Bees and Wasps in these respects, (p. 305.) What is the occu- 
pation of the male wasps % Which of the wasps have stings ? 

How many sorts of ants are there in the same society ? — Describe them. 
— (p. 306.) What becomes of the males and females ? — The office of the 
neuters ? How do different species vary in their habitations 1 What is 
their food ? Which sort of an ant provides it ? — Which takes care of 
the young ? (p. 307.) Give some account of the Termites. What three 
orders are there of the termites bellicosi? (p. 308.) Which is the most 
numerous ? What are they called ? Describe the three orders. — Their re- 
lative size, &c. Are they really different kinds, or merely transformations 
of the same insect ? In what . manner are new families commenced ? 
(p. 309.) What change takes place in the queen? What is the number 
of her eggs'? What are their nests called? (p. 310.) Give an account 
of one of their villages and of the exterior and interior of their hills. 
How are they formed ? Describe the royal chamber, (p. 311.) How is 
it surrounded ? What are the -magazines ? — The nurseries and the changes 
in them ? How are these changes effected ? What is the situation of the 
royal chamber? (p. 312.) How do the surrounding apartments appear ? 
What is the construction immediately under the dome ? How are the 
apartments protected from water ? What is the size of the subterraneous 
passages ? — The material with which they are constructed ? Describe 
their subterraneous galleries, (p. 313.) Describe what takes place when 
an attack is made on their dwellings. — The conduct of the soldiers and 
laborers. — (p. 314.) The office of the sentinel. — The difficulty of ex- 
ploring their nests. 



CHAPTER XII 

RELATION OF ANIMALS TO MAN. — THEIR EDUCATION AND DOMESTICA- 
TION. 

(p. 315.) What is the feeling of animals towards man ? What reason is 
there to believe that many animals have no natural fear of him ? (p. 316.) 
What is S tetter's account ? How is it with the ferocious beasts of pre}- ? 
(p. 317.) With sea-fowl and birds of prey where they are unaccustomed 
to his presence, as compared with their fear of him when known \ — 
(p. 318.) Mention instances. Is there a difference between the domesti- 
cation of a species and the education of an individual \ Are all the 
19* 



442 QUESTIONS. 

domesticated animals known to have existed in the wild state ? What 
have been their services to man ? What substitute has he found for 
them ? (p. 319.) What correspondence is there between the character of 
the domestic animals in different regions and his wants ? Have they prob- 
ably undergone any chauge from domestication ? How is it with the 
horse ? Are all domesticated animals educated ? Which are, and which 
are not ? — (p. 320.) Give some examples of education. 

Why has not the education of birds been carried to the same extent ? 
Give some examples of what has been taught them. — Of the crow, — 
(p. 321,) wild-goose, — buzzard. Give an account of the different steps 
in the education of the falcon, (p. 322.) What is required in the edu- 
cation of animals ? What mode of treatment is most successful t What 
is said of the appeal to the imitative propensity ? In what animals has 
it the most effect 1 What are the capacities of monkeys for education ? 
(p. 323.) What have they been taught 1 What are their imitative powers 
as compared with those of parrots ? Describe the manner in which this 
propensity has been taken advantage of. — (p. 324.) How it has been lu- 
dicrously exhibited. Give an account of what the orang-outang has been 
taught ? How have monkeys been regarded in various countries ? 
(p. 325.) What is said of the combination of the powers of the monkey 
and the parrot ? In what birds does the power of imitating the voice 
and other sounds mostly exist ? Describe the performances of the 
American mocking-bird. — (p. 326.) Of parrots. What kind of phrases 
do they most easily learn ? Describe a remarkable case of imitation 
in the bobolink. 

(p. 327.) What is said of the character of the elephant? — Of his 
trunk ? — (p. 328. ) Of the effect of education upon him ? — To what uses 
is he put ? — How is he directed ? (p. 329.) Describe his use of water. — 
His bathing and swimming. How is he managed by his conductor 1 
(p. 330.) Give an account of the Versailles elephant. What is said of 
the wild dog ? — Of the domestic ? — Of the shepherd's dog ? — (p. 331.) 
Of the dog of the Eoman beggar ? — What other examples of their 
docility? — Of the Edinburgh grocer's dog? (p. 332.) What is Mr 
Kay's account of the performances of a horse ? What are the charac- 
teristics of animals of the ox-kind in a domestic state? Is this their 
natural character ? What is said of the oxen of the Hottentots ? (p. 333.) 
Mention particulars respecting their habits and powers. 

What is said of the education of the lower animals ? Of the deadly 
cobra ? — (p. 334.) Of fishes, toads, and spiders ? — Of the serpent-charm- 
ers ? Describe an exhibition of them in London. State the opposite 
accounts given with regard to the extraction of their fangs. 



QUESTIONS. 443 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OF THE ARTIFICES OF ANIMALS. 

(p. 335.) What remark is made concerning monkeys'? What is Mar- 
graaf's account of those of Brazil? (p. 336.) Give Mr. Parkyns's descrip- 
tion of them in Abyssinia. How do they arrange their predatory ex- 
cursions ? Which of them take the lead ? Of whom is the main body 
composed ? How do they collect and dispose of their plunder ? (p. 337.) 
How is their sagacity shown in the search for water ? Relate an anecdote 
illustrative of their cunning and adroitness. — Of their imitative pro- 
pensity. — (p. 338.) Of a fight of a monkey with a dog. — Of one which 
subdued a vicious horse. 

What account is given of the arts used by the deer to deceive 
dogs'?— -(p. 339.) By the fallow-deer ? — By the roe-deer ? — (p. 340.) 
How does the roe-deer differ from the other kinds of deer % Relate an 
anecdote of the American deer. Describe the artifices of the hare when 
hunted, (p. 341.) Describe the character of the fox. — His habitation 
and manner of life. — (p. 342.) His expedients for securing his prey and 
escaping from his pursuers. — His food. — His love for honey, and at- 
tacks on the nests of bees. — The antipathy of birds to him. 

(p. 343.) How does the glutton kill the fallow-deer'? — In what coun- 
try is this 1 Give an account of the rats of Kamtschatka. 

(p. 344.) What is the manner in which rapacious birds seek their prey 1 
— How are they foiled by the smaller ? Describe an expedient of the 
raven.— Of the crow. (p. 345.) Of the nine-killer hawk. 

What account is given of the artifices of the inhabitants of the 
ocean ? — ■ (p. 346.) Of insects ? — Of the spider ? How long has it been 
known to live without food? Describe the ant-lion. — Its hole for the 
capture of its prey. (p. 347.) How does it proceed in its construction? 
Describe a contest between a spider and an ant-lion. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS. 



(p. 348.) What is the difference between the principle of association in 
Man and in other animals ? What varieties in the objects for which ani- 
mals associate, and in the disposition which induces them ? (p. 349.) 
How is it with the larger beasts of prey ? — With the inferior ones ? For 
what purposes do the herbivorous quadrupeds associate ? How do they 
repel their enemies? (p. 350.) For what purposes do the smaller quad- 
rupeds associate ? Which of them associate for the purpose of building 
their habitations? 



444 QUESTIONS. 

What are the social habits of the nobler birds of prey ? — Of vul- 
tures 1 (p. 351.) Give an account of the association of other birds. 
— An anecdote of the sea-fowl in the Shetland Isles. What are the social 
traits of the parrot? (p. 352.) Describe the gatherings of the passenger- 
pigeon of America. Give a description of their flight. — And their prob- 
able numbers. 

(p. 353.) What is stated of the swarms of insects % — Of those of lo- 
custs ? — Of the use of locusts as food?— (p. 354.) Of the societies of 
caterpillars ? What remark is made concerning the societies of the social 
insects ? Give an account of the nature of the government of the honey- 
bees. — Of the relation of the queen to the swarm, (p. 355.) Describe 
the use made by ants of the aphides, or plant-lice. Give Huber's account 
of his observation of this phenomenon. Upon what terms do the ants 
and aphides live together ? (p. 356.) Describe the system of slavery as 
practised by the amazon ants. Do there appear to be any regular chiefs 
among ants ? What is the nature of their government % 



CHAPTER XV. 



OF THE HOSTILITIES OF ANIMALS, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL 

LIFE. 

(p. 357.) Do Man and animals usually reach the natural term of their 
existence ? What part does man take in the destruction of life ? What 
animals come next to him in this respect ? (p. 358.) How is it with the 
inhabitants of the ocean ? 

What is of the most immediate necessity to life 1 What want is next 
to it ? What is the predominant feeling in animals, proceeding from this 
want? (p. 359.) Describe the influence which this appetite for food has 
upon animals. — In the wolf. — In the eagle. Relate anecdotes of the at- 
tacks of eagles on mankind. By what other causes is life sacrificed ? 
(p. 3G0.) Give examples of various modes of destruction. How is this 
immense destruction compensated ? What evidences are there of a cor- 
responding fecundity of animals ? — Among quadrupeds ? — And fishes ? 
(p. 361.) Is this true of the larger inhabitants of the ocean ? 

What other causes are there for the destruction of life ? What is said 
of the destructive propensity in Man ? — (p. 362.) In animals ? — In the 
dog, &c. ? (p. 363.) What is said of the moral character of this propen- 
sity in Man ? What animals resemble him most in this respect ? Can a 
purpose always be supposed to exist for this destruction ? (p. 364.) How 
is it with bees and wasps ? Give an account of a remarkable battle, narrated 
by Mr. Willard, among ants. (p. 366.) Can any definite purpose be as- 
signed for this contest? Describe the combats of ants as related by 
Huber. (p. 368.) Are their ordinary occupations suspended during these 



QUESTIONS. 445 

contests ? What is said of their recognizing always those of their own 
community ? Eelate a remarkable example of this from Huber. (p. 369.) 
Eor what purpose do the Amazon ants employ the Negro ants ? In what 
stage of existence are they seized ? (p. 370.) Describe one of the preda- 
tory excursions of the Amazons. What species of ant is made captive in 
the same way? (p. 371.) What duty is afterwards performed by the 
Negro ants ? What other species undertakes similar enterprises ? Give 
an account of one of them. (p. 372.) What is the relation of the cap- 
tives to the community 1 — Of which kind of ants is this account strictly 
true ? (p. 373.) What is Huberts account of apparent games and sports 
among ants % Dr. Livingstone's account of the ants of South Africa. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DURATION OF LIFE. 



(p. 374.) Have we any conception either of life or death ? Are the 
changes to which organized beings are subject confined to the materials 
of which they are composed, or do they extend to the laws of their or- 
ganization ? Do we see any necessary connection between these changes ? 
(p. 375.) How far is the effect of time on an animal like the wearing 
out of a machine ? Is the comparison a just one ? Can we conceive of 
the extinction of the power which maintains organization? (p. 376.) 
What are some of the common explanations of the effects of age ? — Are 
they satisfactory ? State the theory which best explains the phenomena 
of living bodies, and the changes they undergo in time. — (p. 377.) Does 
it regard life as the cause or the result of organization ? What character- 
istic of the common power of matter renders it improbable that they are 
the cause of organization ? With what great question is this subject 
connected ? How then can we best conceive of life ? How is this con- 
ception illustrated by the analogy of a machine? (p. 378.) How is it 
applied to the successive phenomena of the different ages of life, and its 
cessation ? 

Is there reason to believe that the duration of human life has varied 
during the historic ages ? (p. 379.) State some examples of longevity. 

— As given by Pliny. — In Russia in modern times. — In New Hamp- 
shire. — (p. 380.) In England. Describe the case of Henry Francisco, 
as related by Professor Silliman. 

(p. 382.) What is said of the duration of life among the Mammalia ! 

— Among Birds ? — Reptiles and Fishes % — Among Insects? (p. 383.) 
When the existence of insects is protracted, is there any extension of 
their period of activity % — What relation may this have to the dura- 
tion of human life 1 

What is the character of common opinions on the subject of longev- 



446 QUESTIONS. 

ity ? — Why is this ? — (p. 384.) How is long life most probably to be 
attained ? Is there anything in hereditary and individual disposition 1 

— In a strong constitution and uniform health 1 What important distinc- 
tion is pointed out ? What general conditions contribute to long life ? — 
(p. 385.) What particular conditions ? What is said of air ? — Of food 2 

— Of labor and exercise ? — Of moral excitement ? (p. 386.) What re- 
mark is made in respect to deferring attention to the means for long life ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 



INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE, AND THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF 

ANIMALS. 

What is referred to as a distinguishing characteristic of things hav- 
ing life ? What contrast is pointed out between inorganic and organic 
things in respect to their individuality % (p. 387.) Can the forces of one 
living system have any interchangeable relations with those of an- 
other ? How far does individuality extend ? — What illustration is 
given of this ? - — How is this principle applied to the intelligence with 
which the operations of the inorganic and organic creation are carried on % 
(p. 388.) Are the functions of plants directed by intelligence % Are the 
same functions also carried on by animals ? What functions have animals 
beside these ? Are we sensible of those functions which we have in com- 
mon with plants ? What is said of their reciprocal relations and essential 
unity? (p. 389.) From what principle do instinctive operations pro- 
ceed ? — From what principle intelligent ones ? Describe the three classes 
of operations by which the economy of animals is carried on. What re- 
mark is made concerning the third class ? What resemblance is pointed 
out between instinctive operations and those performed by habit ? (p. 390.) 
What is said of the relative part taken by instinct and intelligence, espe- 
cially in man ? What is the part taken by the will in muscular mo- 
tion ? What part is taken by instinct in some intellectual operations ? — 
In numerical calculations ? — In the education of the senses and in speech'? 
(p. 391.) What analogy exists between certain voluntary and involun- 
tary operations? — Examples. How is this illustrated in the bee and 
torpedo % — In the maternal instinct of insects ! (p. 392.) What are the 
different degrees in which the innate presence of knowledge and the 
power of acquiring it are possessed by different animals ! 

What are the difficulties of this inquiry? (p. 393.) Mention some ex- 
amples of vegetable instinct. — In tendrils. — In the palm-tree. — In the 
screw-pine. — In Indian corn. What comparison is drawn between the 
economy of the social insects and the internal economy of the human 
body? — (p. 394.) And also the process of repair and regeneration of 
organs ? How is the case different in the higher animals ? How do they 



QUESTIONS. 447 

differ in their amount of knowledge and capacity for improving upon in- 
stinct 1 (p. 395.) Illustrate these remarks by the instance of the beaver. 
What is its original instinct as illustrated in its young 1 How is this 
modified by circumstances ? How is their instinct for migration displayed 
by wild geese ? (p. 396.) What examples are there of long journeys per- 
formed under the direction of an intelligent principle 1 Mention an ex- 
ample of apparent distinct intelligence in ants. — And one of an opposite 
kind. 

(p. 397.) What is the influence of apprehension of danger in suggesting 
expedients to animals ? Mention some example of sagacious conduct 
in animals. What is implied in these examples % Mention other ex- 
amples of a higher kind. (p. 398.) What course of observation and 
reasoning is here indicated ? 

Are animals ever excited to action by feelings and emotions like those 
of men ? Eelate an anecdote concerning swallows from Cuvier. — (p. 399.) 
Of swans, &c. What are these examples of? — Relate examples of the 
influence of the maternal instinct in the cat. — The martin. — (p. 400.) The 
shepherd's dog. — Of a feeling of mutual kindness in animals. Is this a 
common exhibition % What instances are related of the influence of at- 
tachment to human individuals % — In the horse % — (p. 401.) In dogs % 
What examples are given of manoeuvres apparently for exercise or amuse- 
ment 1 — In ants % — In robins % 

(p. 402.) Are the qualities there exhibited to be regarded as indicative 
of the general character of the animals concerned ? What is the proba- 
ble nature of the impulse in such instances 1 How is it with ourselves 1 
What would be the result if the elephant could always exert the 
same sagacity that he does under particular circumstances % — (p. 403.) 
What is his character in an uneducated state ? 

What are the several parts taken by instinct and intelligence in 
directing the operations of animals 1 What is the office of instinct 
where it is the only principle? (p. 404.) How does intelligence cooper- 
ate with it where this principle is combined with it ? What are examples 
of instinct alone ? — Of intelligence combined with it } In what animals 
are these principles severally exhibited ? Is intelligence probably ever 
the predominant one except in man ? What animals may be taken as 
representatives of the two principles ? How are the insect and man con- 
trasted ? 

(p. 405. ) Do the faculties of man differ from those of other animals in 
degree or in kind % What motives to action has man beyond those 
of animals ? Are they essentially different ? — And do they account for 
his superiority ? 

(p. 406.) To what is his superiority to be attributed ? Have animals any 
idea of moral distinctions % Can they be made to have any \ What is our 
feeling with regard to this point ? Have they any capacity for the re- 
ligious sentiment? (p. 407.) What remark is made concerning' this 
sentiment among mankind ? 



448 QUESTIONS. 

CHAPTER XYIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

What general remark is made on the kingdom of life ? What is said 
of the general plan of creation? (p. 408.) Is this plan carried on with 
perfect regularity ? What exceptions are there ? What is the essential 
character of the plan? (p. 409.) Should different views of the mode of 
creation make any difference in our views of its connection with the 
Creator ? What views are most congenial to the sentiments of our na- 
ture, and are in conformity with the relation which exists between Man 
and his Maker ? (p. 410.) What was the original condition of the earth ? 
What changes occurred before the introduction of Life ? Was its pro- 
gress unimpeded ? How was it resisted ? What is said of the nature 
and duration of the contest of life with the inorganic forces ? (p. 411.) 
Has it terminated % In what respect is life a feeble power ? By what 
attributes is this feebleness compensated 7 (p. 412.) By what kind of 
causes were the changes that took place in the first two eras of creation 
brought about ? 

(p. 413.) With what event did the third era in creation begin? What 
constitutes the peculiar feature of this era ? What is the resemblance 
pointed out between the introduction of the organic into the inorganic, 
and of the spiritual into the organic ? (p. 414.) Is there anything in the 
work of preparation which indicates the character of that to which it 
leads ? Can we determine the period of the successive introduction of 
these new elements into creation ? What remarks are made on this 
subject. 

(p. 415.) What attributes of the 'Deity are successively illustrated in 
these three eras ? What is the characteristic of the first ? — Of the 
second? (p. 416.) Describe the changes which take place in the third 
era ? What assurance have we of the ultimate triumph of the principle 
introduced in it ? What views of our relation to the Deity are suggested ? 

(p. 417.) What is said of the legitimate connection of this subject with 
Philosophy and Science ? — Of its intrinsic importance ? What is the 
prevalent tendency of modern science ? To what conceptions of Deity 
does it lead ? (p. 418.) — To what views of Revelation ? 



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